Christmas

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and week! This will probably be a short email because not too much happened this week. At the beginning of the week I started feeling alittle under the weather and by Christmas I was full-on sick. It was funny, when I walked into a meeting on Christmas morning, one of the Elders asked "Sister Turner, what did santa leave you for christmas" and I answered in my broken voice "Pnuemonia!" haha because that is what it felt like. I had a fever and every symptom of the flu plus a pnuemonia cough. I ended up sleeping half the day Christmas eve but luckily before that we go to go to a lunch appointment with our recent convert family and they were so sweet! they had set up a Christmas raffle and we had alot of fun with that even though i was basically dying inside haha 

On December 26 I skyped home and it was so great! I have the best family and i love them and miss them a lot. It was great to talk. After the skype, I had another rest day at the request of the mission presidents wife and I requested a blessing for my sickness and also my back which has been hurting a lot more lately(but don't yall worry. Faith!) It was so sweet because our ZL's came to give me a blessing and as they were leaving my companion says "are you in a hurry?" and they say no and then she asks them to go get my medicine for me. They were more than happy to do it but I was kind of bummed because I wanted to go to the store and try to OYM there (because it is really boring to be on bedrest!) but I finally let them get it for us and since people are extra nice to sick sister missionaries on Christmas, we not only got medicine but also lemon lime Gatorade(my favorite!) and dinner from jollybee! woohoo Our Zone leaders rock. 

The next day I was determined to work and we had a really great day and were able to talk to and teach lots of people(or maybe it just seemed like lots compared to the 0 the two days before haha) One woman we are teaching lives in the Elder's area but we have specific permission to teach her because of her situation. Anyways, what happened was as we were sitting outside her house teaching her, The elder who gave me the blessing the day before and our ward mission leader (who were on splits) walk around the corner and it was so awkward because poor Elder was so shocked to see me there 1)working when i was supposed to be resting and 2)in HIS area that he just stood there shocked and then I guess I looked really sick still so our ward mission leader, Kenneth who I'm friends with goes "Sister Turner! Are you okay? You don't look too good!" and like leans over to check my forehead temperature with his hand. And all of this is in the middle of our lesson. I'm trying to reel it all in by telling Elder "Hey, we have permission to be here i will talk to you later and explain everything" but he still won't leave! haha then our investigator Ruby goes and says to them "Doesn't sister Turner look great? When she got here she was a little chubby but now she looks great! Like a princess! Don't you think so Elder! " SO YEAH THAT HAPPENED. It was so embarrassing haha but also hilarious. 

The only other thing that happened this week was we went to the "thinking cup" which is my favorite resturant. It's a library cafe and they play Taylor swift music and have the only alfredo pasta I have been able to find in the philippines so far. It's the best. I'll include pictures.

Anyways, Sorry this week is kind of short. I hope this week I am 100% healthy and able to work so I will have lots of miracles and experiences to share next week. Love you all have a great week!:)

I'm dreaming of a wet,wet Filipino Christmas...

Malagayang Pasko!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow it's so weird that Christmas is in just a few days. It honestly feels like I am living in an eternal summer here haha This past week was really great though because we had lots of Christmas fun to help get us in the spirit of Christmas. Last Wednesday we had our mission wide Christmas conference which included a talent show that every zone of missionaries performed in. Our zone rocked it and i'm going to try and get a copy of the video for posterity! Then on Friday we had a zone training where we did a white elephant gift exchange with all the missionaries. I was really struggling trying to think of what to get for my gift because it had to be something an elder or a sister could use and I wanted to make it good in case it was the only gift they got this Christmas so I ended up making a "Bad day care package". I put a teddy bear (for a hug) , a package of hershey kisses (for a kiss) and a notebook with my favorite encouraging scripture verses and quotes (for a nice chat). It was totally a hit and we played the game where you can steal gifts people have already opened and my gift was stolen a couple times so i think that's a sign i did a good job picking my gift! (or people just wanted some chocolate haha) 

Then Saturday morning was the baptism for the family I have been teaching from the beginning of my mission basically. They are so special to me! I understand now how missionaries say they really love the people they serve and teach. It is so true. Sister Vi and I wanted to do something special for them since they are so special to us and we decided to sing the song "when i am baptized" which is one of my favorite hymns. It was kind of a big deal because it was the first time I have sang in public (solo) since the mrs. santa clause incident way back in the 5th grade. I was really nervous but I was grateful to have that opportunity to do that for them. The spirit was so strong. I was literally so happy for them I can't even explain it. Like the best Christmas present ever that this family I loved was choosing to come unto the savior by being baptized. After they had changed, I went to check on Mierna and Grace and I gave them both a hug and the spirit was so strong. I don't think I will ever forget it. When I hugged mierna she just started crying and said thank you. It really took me aback because I realized that I really hadn't done anything. I really was just the instrument and the Lord did it all. I'm so grateful I got to be his instrument in helping this family find the truth. Afterwards, they all bore their testimonies and Mierna, the grandmother started to bawl as she talked and just said "I know that I belong to the true church of Jesus Christ now." The bishop spoke and said it was one of the most spiritual baptisms he had been to. I'm so grateful I was able to be there for them. I love them, they are so strong! Grace is 20 and wants to serve a mission as soon as she hits her one year mark! Her faith really encourages me to be better!:)

After the baptism we went to a Legazpi stake talent show for all the wards. Our Mission president lives in our stake so he requested us missionaries to perform. We sang a "Far far away on Judea's Plains" and then threw in a verse in bicol(the language of my region of the Philippines) and everyone was so surprised/ happy about it. haha I promise you I have spent more time on a stage performing this past week than all the previous times of my life. We got to stay and watch the rest of the performances and they were all so cute! All the Filipinos I meet are so talented and the show was definitely star packed. 

Then this morning I became an official missionary because i went and played basketball in the church parking lot on pday with all the Elders. So I can mark that off my bucket list. It was actually really fun and one of the AP's was charitable enough to become my coach for the morning and he taught me how to shoot! Then my Zone Leader came over and we had a competition of who could get more shots in and the loser had to buy the other ice cream. I ended up getting free salted caramel ice cream from 7-11 for breakfast so I think it was a pretty successful morning! haha 

I'm so excited for Christmas and to Skype my family in just a few days! I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and remember the real reason for this season: The birth of our Savior Jesus Christ! I am so grateful to be able to be a missionary for this Christmas season and tell the world about the best Christmas present ever given. When our heavenly Father gave his son Jesus Christ to us so that we could return to live with him again one day. I know that life can get so busy and sometimes we can forget to make time for the savior in our lives, but this Christmas, I invite you to really think of the gift you can give back to our savior. Whether it being your time to serve your fellow man, your church attendance, reading his word through the scriptures, etc. Really ponder and thin about what you could give the Lord in this upcoming year. I am doing this too and am really excited to try and improve myself in this upcoming year. 

Thank you all for the love and support and I really do hope you have a wonderful Christmas! 

Sister Turner:)

Merry Christmas! Here's some pictures! Thanksgiving and balut, 7-11 ice cream with our member present after working, Sister Vi, members, opening my package from the primary back home, ward Christmas party pig they let us cut for dinner.

Hand Caught In The Cookie Jar...

Hello Everyone!

I have lots to say and not lots of time today so I'm going to test out my word per minutes typing ability haha. I think I will just share two really cool experiences I had this week. 

So on Tuesday we went to go visit this cute little 89 year old nanay less active and when we got to her house the neighbors said she had been taken to the hospital so we dropped all our plans to go to the next town over to check on our nanay at the hospital because we really felt like we needed to go to her right then. When we get there we go to the front desk to try to find her with only her last name. haha the great thing about the Philippines is they will give anyone information no matter how confidential. We walk up and they saw our name tags and the guy goes "oh. are you here to see the two american elders with dangae fever?" tapos he gives us their room number along with our nanay's information. So  of course we decide o go check on the elders and see who it is hidden in this Filipino hospital. (Probably not a good idea) We didn't realize it was a bad idea until we had already knocked on their door and then decided to turn back but when we turned around the AP's were coming down the hall towards us. I think I probably have never looked so guilty before. Even though I wasn't doing anything wrong really, I just felt like a kid who got caught with their hand in the candy jar haha Because it is weird that we were at the hospital door of these two elders who were supposed to be there secretly. But it all worked out and it was perfect timing because the AP's ended up giving our nanay a blessing and it totally made her day. (Also the elders who were sick I actually did know them haha but they are doing just fine now). It was a col experience because I really felt we were doing our job as representatives of Jesus Christ as we followed the spirit and were able to help who really needed help in the moment they needed it. 

We also had our ward Christmas party this week which I was in charge of doing a children's game for 60 primary kids. It was the most terrifying thing I think I have done so far on my mission. There was a microphone, 60 kids wanting candy, me speaking broken Tagalog and trying to explain red rover. It was rough. haha plus the 300 people in our ward were watching it all go down. But I am so grateful because my zone leader Elder Cameron totally saved me and helped me reel in all these crazy kids. I owe him big time. So grateful seriously haha But just in case you were wondering, Red Rover is not a good game for Filipino children because they will beat each other up but they actually have a fun time with duck duck goose. 

Oh also we had a lot of stressful complications with our baptisms but all is good now and they are set to be baptized next Saturday at 11am. I am so excited for their family! It is Mierna, Grace and Ian. They are so great. I am grateful that I have been able to teach them from the very beginning and see how the gospel has really changed their lives:) 

Sorry so much happened this week but I am out of time. I'll write better/more next week! Love you all!

Ingat!

Sister Turner:)

Don't Worry!

Okay everyone... Big news! I AM ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!

So no big deal but I totally lived through a super typhoon as a missionary in the Philippines. So that's cool. oh man. The last few days have been crazy but don't worry I am just fine. Typhoon Ruby didn't hit my area all that bad and the worst part of the storm was probably the fact that we weren't allowed to go out and work and I was SO BORED.I am incapable of being lazy now. Like seriously.I just want to work and be busy all the time.

 It was cool though because on Sunday we got to go next door to our neighbor's for sacrament meeting. The dad is the CES coordinator and was authorized to have a sacrament meeting in his home. They had gathered together all the plastic cups they could find (in all different sizes) and used bread and water that they blessed and then used for the sacrament. The spirit was so strong and it was way cool because I felt like i was in the early days of the church back when there was only 20 members haha. Then we had some spiritual thoughts and then they served us lunch. Our neighbors,the Manahan's are the best. They have 5 boys and they always joke that they have adopted the sister missionaries as their daughters.  :) We had some nice special treatment during the storm though because my area is right by the mission office and home so the AP's delivered yummy home made meals from the mission president's wife to us. 

It was so weird because the "bagyo" was over us for about 24 hours but last night was the worst part of it. The rain was coming down so hard the sky was just white and there was zero visibility. Tapos, the wind was right above us and so loud that it made the whistling/screeching sound like tornado's do in the movies. We really were so blessed because our house and our lives were fine. I am not sure how my area is because we haven't really gone out yet but I got several texts from our investigators and members saying that their homes and  families were safe. I just want to thank everyone for all the prayers and fasts directed towards me and my beloved people here in the Philippines! I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and hears and answers our prayers and that he really protected us from this storm. 

I hope that you all continue to stay safe and know that I love you and pray for all of you always. 

Mahal na mahal ko kayo! Ingat kayo palagi. 

Sister Turner:) 

Surprise! An Early Email

Hello Everyone!

I am emailing on Saturday because we have been advised to email today because later today a major super typhoon is supposed to hit us. I don't know if you have heard about it or if they are talking about it on world wide news but they say it is supposed to be as big as Yolanda, which was the biggest tsunami storm to ever hit the Philippines. Right now the typhoon "Ruby" is 40 provinces wide and headed in my direction! haha Don't you worry though. My apartment is very safe and we should be fine there. It's so safe in fact that we currently have 15 evacuated sisters from other parts of the mission staying with us. So it's like a big slumber party with lots of saltine crackers haha We have been told to have 7 days worth of food and water and have everything ready for emergency evacuation if need be. I am mostly just sending this email to assure you that I will be just fine but we do expect some pretty big repercussions from this storm so we may not have power for up to a month, meaning I might not be able to email or communicate for that amount of time. I'm sure my mission president will keep my family informed and if there is a way of communication still up after the storm and maybe I will even be able to call home! woohoo silver lining!

 It's so crazy because everyone is running around trying to prepare for this storm and church services have even been canceled for the prolonged future and we are setting up all church buildings as safe spots for evacuees so we will also evacuate there if our apartment becomes unsafe. I don't want you to worry about me because I know that Heavenly Father is with me and I will be safe. I know everything is in the Lord's all knowing hands. Please pray for all the people of the Philippines because there are many who are unable to have safe shelters or be well prepared due to their poverty and various situations and I am worried for them. I pray the Lord will protect these wonderful people that I love. 

This week I got a new companion, Sister Vi from Tonga! She is pretty awesome. I feel like I will be able to learn a lot from her and really become a better missionary and I am excited for the next six weeks. This week we got to teach Mierna and Grace and Ian and they are literally so prepared and awesome. They were supposed to be baptized this upcoming Saturday but everything is being delayed because of the bagyo! I hope they don't have to wait to much longer because they are so excited. Also an update on Lolido: He is still going strong. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants to be baptized. He moved to another town for work but says he wants to come back so I can teach and baptize him here since Sister Mccoard and I were the ones to find him and start teaching him. I thought that was really sweet but the best part is that he wants to be baptized in the first place! We really are so blessed here. One of the first things I said to my new kasama was "Sister. You just got transferred into the best area of this mission! You just wait and see!" and it's so true. There are so many choices spirits here ready to accept the gospel and the coolest thing is that when Sister Mccoard and I opened this area there wasn't anyone yet but with the Lord's help we were able to find this wonderful people and share with the the truth they had been searching for. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father is allowing me to be a part of his great work here in Daraga. 

I love you all, you are the best!

Sister Turner:)

A Very Filipino Thanksgiving:)

Hello Hello Hello!! First of all thank you so much for all the love and support you've all been sending me! Also shout out to my family for eating thanksgiving rice in my honor! My thanksgiving was actually a pretty good one. We had a district meeting where we talked about being grateful and how to serve our area better. Tapos, the sisters all went out to eat lunch and had a great time laughing and went around saying all the things we were grateful for. Just like home! It was cute:) Then for our thanksgiving dinner we made french toast(which actually tastes good wherever you are in the world apparently so woohoo) and BALUT. Balut is the traditional Filipino delicacy. You can Google it for more info but basically it is a boiled egg but it has a half formed chick with feathers and brain and beak. That was HILARIOUS to see each other try. Definitely a once in a mission thing i'm thinking. I don't know if I can send videos on my email but if not, I've got a really funny video to show you in 14 months! haha 

Also I got mail yesterday!!! It was a padded envelope from my ward back home!! It had cute notes from the kids who I used to babysit and sweet notes from the relief society and some cute treats. I cannot even tell you how happy it made me! It was a super surreal moment because I remember making those care packages for missionaries and now I AM THE MISSIONARY!!! so weird and surreal. I am so blessed and thank you so much! 

So This week was just very surreal because I am done with training now! Tomorrow Sister Mccoard will be transferring and I will get a new companion and lead this area. We spent all day yesterday trying to teach as many of our investigators and visit everyone she wanted to before leaving. We took a bunch of pictures with them which i will send probably next week because the computer is being weird. I'm really sad Sister M is leaving. I love her so much and was hoping we could stay together for Christmas! Actually one of the Ap's told us we were supposed to stay together another 6 weeks but something happened in the mission here they needed to separate a companionship so we ended up getting split. I am sad but I know that ultimately everything is part of the Lord's plan and I am excited to have my first "real" companion where I am a normal and 100% official missionary. We have a family getting baptized on Dec. 13 and I am so excited for them! I'll send you more on all our amazing investigators next week hopefully!

December is the rainy season here in Phili and it definitely hasn't disappointed. I had a really cool missionary slash life moment Saturday night because we had been punted all day (where no one is home/all our appointments fall through) and it started raining SO HARD. For like 3 hours straight and the roads were completely empty and we literally were wading through like 6 inches of water and deeper in some places and i'm just like trying to hold my skirt and umbrella and scriptures (I NEED A WATERPROOF SCRIPTURE CASE) and it was so crazy and dark and insane and all I could think is "This is SO COOL! I am a missionary in the Philippines "swimming" through gross water to go teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. IT IS THE BEST! 

The Lord blesses me so much every single day. One of the ways he blesses me is by giving me weaknesses because those weaknesses force me to rely on him and when I rely on him I really do become strong. I feel his love in my life often and know I am where I am supposed to be. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Let Heavenly Father and our savior Jesus Christ help you with the things you may be struggling with. You can become strong and feel their love no matter what may be happening.

I am praying for you always,

Sister Turner:)

Sister Turner's Good Eats

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! 

I hope you all have a very wonderful week and eat some rice in my honor. I don't have too many stories from this past week so I thought I would do a special Food Edition of my weekly emails in honor of Thanksgiving. So get ready to hear some of my gross /funny/sad food stories of life in Philli!

Okay so first of all I eat a sad sad sad amount of rice. With no exaggeration. The way food is prepared here is there is a little "ulam" which is a topping of vegetables or meat that you eat with your rice. But EVERYTHING is with rice. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. And the thing is after almost 12 weeks I honestly have to have rice. If we don't eat it,it's not a meal. So basically I will be purchasing a rice cooker for my apartment post mission. 1) because I love it and 2) because that's literally all I know how to cook haha 

Back when we had six sisters living with us we decided to measure how much rice we all ate combined in one week. It was 14 pounds. 14 POUNDS!! Is that absurd? Absolutely? Good thing I walk 12 miles a day or I would be 300 pounds.

Another culture thing here is that when people offer you food it is incredibly rude to not eat it, especially if you are a foreigner. So you have to eat it no matter what. I have eaten some crazy things but I think the hardest is when you are literally not hungry and you have to force yourself to eat because they keep putting food on your plate. hahaha We went to a birthday party last weekend and the mom literally made me eat 3 pieces of cake and a bunch of pancit and chips and everything. I didn't want it and I felt so full. She made me do it! There is no agency in this aspect It was basically that scene in the movie Matilda where the mean principle makes the fat little boy eat all the chocolate cake haha. Sister Mccoard and I thought we were going to throw up but we just pushed through and laughed instead. Missionaries can do hard things. 

I think the grossest thing I have eaten on my mission is just the sheer number of ants I have probably consumed. They are everywhere. I remember one time this lady gave us juice and it had all these ants floating in it and she was watching me waiting for me to drink it so I try and drink it all slowly to not get the ants but then when I drink any at all she just refills it haha Then I gave up and just drank them all and she went on to give me some more juice and goat liver.(not a fan) One time I was eating oatmeal with one of my roommates and went to pour sugar in the oatmeal and then noticed there were some ants crawling in it and I just look at her and she goes "They don't have bones" and I go "Hey! It's extra protein!" and we move on like nothing happened. I AM SO GROSS. Like over here is different. Like you just don't care and you eat what you are given and you are grateful for it and you don't waste anything. There have been so many moments where My trainer has just looked at me and been like "eat it all! you have to eat it!" Most times I am okay except for once when I found this super nasty hair all mixed in with my rice at a member's house and I literally couldn't do it so I did probably the meanest thing in my life and i said "Sister Mccoard, this is so good but I am just too full, could you finish this for me.?" and then put it on her so she had to eat the hair rice. We are so scared of offending people we do some gross stuff haha. I've had some pig face, chicken foot, cow liver and many more. I'm not really sure the details because I try not to ask. haha I think maybe that it why I love rice so much because I can get away with eating just that and a little fish head or whatever they have. 

When we are home we just have eggplant and rice or eggs or corned beef so nothing too extreme. But sometimes we try to made American food for our Filipino roommates. It's pretty gross though because we have no good substitutes. Our latest invention was grilled cheese with no butter or good cheese so it was just toasted bread with fake cheese and a pack of spaghetti sauce mixed in with water to make "tomato soup". We tried really hard but it was definitely far from that tried and true American Classic. I think I'll just wait 14 months to have my american favorites again haha.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed a glimpse into my life here. Everyday is a new adventure for sure. They do have a madco here that we go to sometimes but even there they have rice! haha Jollybee is my favorite place to go on pdays because they have really good spaghetti there. 

Hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and appreciate a holiday when you eat a lot because you want to not because you have to! haha

On a more serious note, I just want to take a second to say how grateful I am for the many blessings I have been given. The last 3 months have really opened my eyes to how blessed I was back home and how much I took for granted. The wonderful people of the Philippines have shown me that happiness really doesn't come from things or status in life or anything like that. It really comes from family, and God and our own personal choices. I am so grateful for the many tender mercies the Lord gives to me each day and for all the friends and family who love and support me each week. This is the hardest thing I have ever done but I know that Heavenly Father has brought me here for a reason and that each day here in the Philippines is a gift. 

I love you all, have a wonderful week!

Sister Turner:)

How He Works

Hello wonderful family and friends of mine! I hear it's getting cold over there on the other side of the world. I just want you to know that I am very much jealous and hope you enjoy the snow, hot cocoa and snuggly blankets:) I'm sending lots of love your way from a very warm place.

One of our investigators, Rhodora is so great! Let me tell you a little about her.  She had polio when she was 3 years old and lost the function of her legs. Her dad made her a little wooden "wheelchair" made of a piece of wood and wheels so she can get around. She is so sweet and talented in drawing and crocheting. She offered to make sister m and I crocheting of our names and even wrote a cute note on the back. She is so sweet. It was really powerful because this week when we taught her we taught about the atonement and how through the lord's atonement, we can be made perfect and I told her that I don't know why bad unfair things happen in this life but I do know that the Savior Jesus Christ knows all that she goes through and that through him all will be made right one day. It was so neat to be able to share that with her and the spirit was way strong. I will send a picture of her next week because there are virus's in this computer shop that can wipe your camera and since i have a bunch of pictures to send i will just wait. 

There were a couple really cool experiences this week but i only have time to write one. So about 3 weeks ago we taught this man named Lolido. He is a celebrity event planner and a very opinionated and cool guy. He likes to debate a lot though which can make teaching him hard because he really wants to teach you! haha So we were teaching him and he told us how he knew that Jesus Christ was actually just a man who did good things but he wasn't a savior and usually i would just go on with the lesson but I felt the spirit so strongly tell me that i needed to share my testimony that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world and that he really did suffer and die for us and that through him everything is possible. And it made NO SENSE because it's just this fighting guy who doesn't believe in Jesus but I couldn't fight the spirit. So I just stopped him and said something along the lines of "Brother, I feel like i need to share my testimony with you. Because earlier you said Jesus Christ is not our savior but I know that he is" and just share my testimony with him and as I'm talking the spirit was like CHOKING me and I start crying! Crying in a lesson with this man who i knew did not respect me because I am just this white emotional girl who can't speak his language talking about Christ. Afterwards I felt like SUCH an idiot. I was so upset with myself that I didn't just keep my mouth shut. Anyways fast forward to yesterday when Lolido walks into our sacrament meeting all dressed up and had come all on his own. We were talking to him afterwards and the bishop came up and asked him why he decided to come. He turned to me and said "I am here because she cried. I can debate anything but I can't debate her testimony or her tears. I knew it came from her heart and I felt it. I want to know more. I think it could be true." and then he thanked me for what I had said to him.  SO YEAH THAT HAPPENED. Let's bypass the part where he told everyone I cried and fast forward to the part where my weakness in that moment or what I perceived to be a weakness turned out to be the way the Lord had the spirit work in this man. Heavenly Father's Plan is literally so perfect and I think that is probably the biggest lesson I am learning on my mission. I thought for a long time that in order to be a powerful missionary or have a powerful testimony I had to be a powerful speaker. I thought the Lord would help me get this language and then I could teach with power and would be able to help a lot of people. But now I realize that the Lord is already using me to accomplish his purposes. Even when I feel so unqualified or stupid or whatever. There have already been so many instances where moments where I thought I had failed that really turned into moments that the Lord had used to make miracles happen. I told Sister M that every time we have something really bad/awkward/embarrassing like that happen we can celebrate because it just means Heavenly Father is getting a miracles ready for us.

I guess that's my little epiphany this week on how Heavenly Father works. When we trust his and his plan we have no need to worry. I am grateful to be a part of this work here in the Philippines. 

I miss you and love you!

Sister Turner

Walking On Sunshine

Hello Everyone!

The title of the email is referring to how awesome this week was and how many AMAZING THINGS HAPPENED. Not referring to the fact that I live on an island that might as well be the middle of the sun it's so hot haha 

But I am serious. We have seen so many miracles this week. When I came out to the area 10 weeks ago, they had just split the area, and we basically had no one to teach and spent all day everyday going door to door and being rejected and just working super hard with very little success. But the Lord is so good to us and through that hard work, he has allowed us to find some of the most golden investigators you could ever imagine. They are so ready for the gospel and their hearts are so open to the spirit I cannot even explain. It's so great. So first, on Monday we came home from Grocery shopping and one of our investigators was waiting at our house. She said she really wanted to be taught so we walked to the church to teach (Remind me to tell you the story of breaking into the church for April when we skype). Her faith is so strong and as we taught the spirit really testified to her that our message was true. She shared with us how she was struggling because she was paying her own way through school and was the first one in her family to be able to go to school and she was having a really hard time because she was short for her tuition and need 500 pecos(which is about 15 dollars) and it was so sad for me to think about because as missionaries we are not allowed to pay for people's food/school/etc. but it is SO HARD because something so small for me was the determining factor of if she could reach all of her dreams or not. But it was so weird because after her sharing this with us we were prompted to share with her the law of tithing and the spirit was so strong and even though she is struggling so much with finances right now her faith is so strong and she agreed to pay tithing after she is baptized. The people I teach really are the ones teaching me. Have you ever had to choose to pay tithing or have food? Or go to school? Or help your family ? Or buy your children shoes? Because these wonderful people do! They have that choose and instead of justifying that the don't need to follow a commandment, they do it anyway with faith and trust in the lord that he will help them with the rest. I am so often amazed by them.

Tuesday was a really exciting day because we went to one of the richest areas to track and I got to ring a doorbell!! I haven't seen a doorbell in forever.It was so exciting!! I really think the level of entertainment needed to keep me happy has gone down as a missionary haha. 

Remind me to tell you the sneezing cow story at Christmas. (Sorry i keep doing that to you, all my stories just sound lame typed. )

Okay the most exciting day was yesterday though. Because November 9, 2014 was the best day of my life!!!! I don't even know if I can adequately explain how great it was! Basically we had 3 golden investigators taught in a row and they were all people that I personally found tracking!! Also a less active woman who I have been visiting and teaching for 10 weeks who hasn't been to church in over 6 months finally came back to church yesterday and brought all her kids! And her little daughter is so sweet, she reminds me a lot of me when I was her age. She told me "Sister, I want to be a missionary when I grow up too,can I have my own book of Mormon?" Okay heart melted. I think she was a big reasoned her mom came back to church. We just started to teach their dad and I know they will be sealed in the temple one day. Then we taught Dois Dado who is so astig. I love teaching him because I literally see the spirit and knowledge of the gospel changing him and his life. It is a privileged to watch. He will be getting baptized Dec 6. 

Okay. Now the most amazing miracle of all!! We have one investigator who we tracked a while ago but we haven't been able to teach her in a few weeks and I was so sad but I was not about to give up on her. So yesterday a billion and one things fell into place so that we were free and I felt like we should drop by her house and basically had the best lesson ever. I have literally never felt the spirit so strong in my life let alone in my mission. The coolest thing is that the spirit had been teaching her the whole time we weren't able to go to her. She has already read the BOM and prayed and felt it was true. She has shared with her husband and he wants to be taught. She is ready to commit to all the commandments. She knows Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and she asked us to be baptized!!!!!!!!!!!! Before we even had a chance to invite her. So we taught her what baptism was and how it worked and when I actually said the words to commit her to baptism the spirit was so strong. I started crying and she started crying and it was so great. She just said "I know this is going to be hard to change. But I know it's right. So I need to". We told her about temple marriages and how families can be sealed together so that they don't have to be till death do you part and she wants that so bad. I got the strongest feeling that her whole family would not only be baptized but would be sealed together in a temple of God and that I would be there for that. I am so excited for them!!!!! ah. words cannot even. Also right after that we went to another great family! It was the best day ever. Also Sister Mccoard and I really are so close now. Like real sisters. We are able to have the spirit with us and I know that any miracles we get to see aren't because of us but entirely because of the spirit because we are trying our very best to work hard and be exactly obedient, we have been able to have that with us and witness the miracles the Lord has been preparing in this area. When we were teaching yesterday I was so blessed because I felt so happy. Like so happy you're going to explode or jump up and down screaming. I think that means it was true joy. It was great. I want that feeling always. I think if I can keep the spirit then I can feel that way! That's the goal anyways. I am so excited for the upcoming week, I know it will be great too!

Love you all so much!

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Turner:)

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween!!! 

Just kidding. They don't have Halloween here. Except some people did trunk or treat at the church and that made me really happy. I am surprised at how much i miss Halloween. and kit kats. Guess you don't miss it till it is gone haha Hope you all had a great time with fun fall festivities though!

 Since most of the people here in the Philippines are Catholic their big holiday is All saints day when everyone goes to the graveyard to visit their dead. It's a really big deal here. The florists and the liquor shops sell out and the sister missionaries have a 6pm curfew. haha Halloween day was still interesting for me though. My companion broke a mirror, a black cat showed up at our apartment and we met a guy who's wife died the day before and insisted on showing me pictures of his dead wife in her glass coffin. (I'm completely serious. That happened ) Soooo yeah. It was a hoot.

One funny thing that happened was we literally ran like 3 miles in 15 minutes from a way out rice field to the church to teach one of our investigators and we get there and i am so gross and dying and can't breathe and we all sit down and are about to start teaching and he goes(in broken English) :" Sister Turner. Why are you perspiring so much??" hahaha and I'm just like "sorry!" but in my head I'm like "Because I care about you and your salvation enough to run 3 miles from a rice field! geesh!"  hahah It was a great lesson though and he now has a baptism day and is progressing so much! 

This week I was studying the scriptures where it tells us to "take p our cross" and follow the savior. (Matthew 16:24-5) This life is really hard sometimes. It really is. But I find great comfort in knowing that we are never alone in what we go through. I read in D&C 122 where Joseph Smith had been praying tot he Lord for help and the Lord tells him that even if he experiences the worst trials possible, everything will be for his own good because it will give him experience. D&C 122:8 really hit me hard. It says: "The son of man(Jesus Christ) hath descended below them all(trials). Art thou greater than he?". This isn't supposed to be easy. And when we have hard times we should only hold our heads up higher because we are walking the road that Jesus Christ walked, we are in good company with the savior and we are never alone. 

Last night we watched an area broadcast to the Philippines with Elder Oaks and one of the things a speaker said really stuck out to me. He talked about how the quality of life we have has nothing to do with our lives or the world around us. It all has to do with the way we choose to look at it. We make our own happiness. He talked about how Lamen and Lemuel and Nephi both had the same glass of experiences and trials but Nephi tried to look at it half full and found joy and happiness. Laman and Lemuel saw it as half empty and were miserable. I know that is is so true! I have found that even in the worst experiences if you can still laugh and smile and keep going then you can be happy no matter what is happening. Sometimes my companion and I will go through a day and just look at each other and literally say "Why are we so happy right now? Today has been awful!" But I know that that happiness is a gift from the spirit and that if we try our best, heavenly Father really will help us in every single aspect of our lives. Even being happy when it doesn't logically make sense to be. 

So i'm just going to keep smiling and when the rain falls down, remember where the rains falls from. 

It's a good day to have a good day so I hope you all have a wonderful one!

Mahal na mahal ko kayo lahat. 

Ingat!

Sister Turner

Machetes and Miracles

Kumusta!

Siege so this week was so crazy. We found two new families to teach this week! They are both so awesome and really progressing. They are really seeking to know if our message is true and are recognizing the answering to their prayers!! It's such a miracle because this week almost all of our investigators are either progressing (reading, going to church,etc.) or have baptismal dates. IT'S SO EXCITING. 

Before I left on my mission one of my friends said  that missionaries who go to Asian countries learn how to be humble. But I really think that is true for missionaries anywhere. I have never been aware of how little I know and how incapable I really am until I came here and tried to speak a new language and work crazy long days and understand new culture, etc. etc. But I also have never been so aware of how real and tangible and accessible the Lord's help is to us. My new favorite scripture is Luke 18:27. Heavenly Father really can make the most impossible things possible and he really wants to help us if we just turn to him. I think I have relied on him this week more than ever and we have seen such great miracles. He can open doors that have never been opened before and give strength to us so we can accomplish what we need to even when we really think we can't. It's pretty great.

Also we did community service this week and we were weeding and cutting down trees and stuff and they just handed me a machete and told me to get to work and I just cracked up at how they just give a little white american girl that with no instruction book. Too much trust if you ask me. I have no idea what i'm doing just whacking away haha It worked though.

Anyways sorry this is short this week.

Mahal Kita,

Sister Turner:

The Spider

Hello Family and Friends.

This week was another fun and interesting week in the Philippines.

 One night this week I was heading upstairs to change into my PJ's when I went to turn on the light and I see this HUGE BLACK SPIDER (for real hand size)crawling right next to my hand. I was so surprised that I screamed probably the loudest scream in my life. Like those blood curtling screams they do in those black and white scary films.  Anyways after that everyone yells to me if I'm okay and then I go downstairs and tell them what happened and my companion just starts laughing at me and is like "Welcome to the Philippines". But I could not force myself to sleep in the tarantula room right? So I recruit sister sasagi to come upstairs and try to get this spider so we can go to bed. Anyways, after about 30 minutes of terror, tears and screams and discovering that our new spider friend has like super-spidey- jump-4 feet powers we gave up and I layed awake all night just on the look out and so scared and wondering how I found myself living in a country where it is socially acceptable to sleep with a tarantula 2 feet from your head. 

I consider myself lucky though because this morning I walked into the office to drop off something and saw Elder Winkler! He is here for some random reason in my area but we were talking and he said in his apartment they had two rats and he said "It's okay now, they are dead" I asked how they had killed them and he responded "Well we got one with a trap and the other one I stepped on" HAHA Oh man. Life is hard. Also he said they don't have any water at their house so they just wait for this cute little lady with a water cart to come around and sell them water. Somedays she doesn't come and they just don't have water that day! haha I love hearing my fellow missionaries stories because it reminds me to be more grateful. 

My companion wants me to tell you all about our weird food experiences but I think I will save that for a later email or for Christmas or something but don't you worry because I definitely have stories. haha

I am writing later today than usual because this morning we had a really neat experience to volunteer at a medical screening the church medical mission was hosting. We weren't allowed to proselyte or talk about the gospel which is basically as debilitating to a foreign missionary  as cutting off an arm since we literally only know gospel language and vocabulary. It was a really neat experience to help out though and I was able to meet a lot of amazing people and struggle to speak broken Tagalog to them:) The people here are always happy and grateful no matter what. I really admire that. One man came in to have his eyes checked for cataracts and the doctor told him his eyes were too far gone and he wouldn't not be able to reverse his blindness and instead of getting angry or upset he just graciously thanked the doctor for his time and walked out so dignified and awesome. If I can come home more like a Filipino I would consider myself so honored. 

Also Sorry if it seems like I only write crazy silly stories. I promises I have real life awesome spiritual missionary experiences all the time. I will try to get better about writing them. 

That's it for this week! Love you all!

Sister Turner:) 

Conference and Cooking

Hello Friends and Family!

So last Monday after emailing we went to one of our investigator's houses so she could teach us how to cook Filipino food but it basically just resulted in us eating for literally 4 hours. Like she would teach us how to cook something and then we would eat it and then we just kept doing recipes and we couldn't leave because she was the sweetest lady and had spent a bunch of money and time to buy us stuff and so we just stayed and ate. And I now understand why unlimited yummy food really isn't a good thing no matter how it sounds. Oh the bright side we now know how to make more than hot dogs and rice! woohoo improvement.

Monday night we had a Family home evening and it was the best! I am going to have astig FHE's all the time in my future family for sure. It was with our neighbors who are members (it was their son's 10th bday) and we had a lot of our investigators there. It was so fun! We played games and gave a spiritual thought and were all outside under the stars like singing hymns and having a great time and I just had this moment of realization of how lucky I was to be in the Philippines. (I have those moments alot)

Tuesday was sweet because we got to do exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. I had the honor and privilege of working with sister De Guz Man (one of my roommates/sister training leaders) the last week of her mission. It was such a great experience and I learned so much from her. She was a really great example to me of Christlike love and just being an awesome missionary in general. She left of Sunday to leave early from her mission to go home and help her family. I really miss her.

Also random side note but conference was SO GREAT! and we had six investigators come. it was amazing!

So the Filipino people are super blunt and tell you how it is, especially about your looks. One of our lessons this week was great because in the middle our investigators just cuts me off and says "you're beautiful. you look like Anne Hathaway". BEST COMPLIMENT EVER! hahah as we were walking back home I told my companion I hoped she was referring to cute Princess Diaries Anne Hathaway and not dying in Les Miserable s Anne Hathaway. haha Either way I guess I'll take what i can get.

Sorry I don't have much time today but this morning was cool because we had a district activity where we went to cagsawa which is the ruins from where the last volcano eruption happened. It was insane. Look up google pics. I took some sweet pics that i will send next week because I don't have my camera right now. 

It really is so beautiful here.

Sorry lots more happened this week but i'm in a rush. 

Love love love you all!

Have a really fantastic week!

-Sister Turner:)

He Has A Plan

Hello Family and Friends! 

      I was so excited to hear so many of you say general conference was so astig! In the Philippines, we watch all broadcasts like general conference and stuff a week later. So we saw the General woman's broadcast on Saturday and it was SO GREAT. Oh my gosh I can't wait for more conference this weekend. It's like Christmas. Thanks for the quotes, I feel like I got a sneak peak:) 

Okay so I'm going to be real with you all: Missions are really hard. And you learn so much. This week Heavenly Father has really been stretching me and I have grown a lot but it has been really hard.

   One of our investigators who I just have grown to love so much decided to drop us because her family wants her to stay a Catholic. She called us over to tell us she wanted to still be friends but she couldn't meet with us anymore. It literally broke my heart. She really loved hearing our message and how she felt at church but she just didn't want to break her families wishes. As we walked away, I just started crying because I literally love her so much. And I don't care how many people reject me or mock us or laugh at our message. We are missionaries and that is our job, to persevere even when times get tough. To share our message because we know that God lives and loves us. We know God has a plan for all of his children here on the earth and we share that plan and gospel with our fellow brothers and sisters because we love them. So I wasn't really sad that she had decided she didn't want to hear our message anymore. My heart broke because I knew what she was giving up. Our message is everything! The restored gospel of Jesus Christ holds every answer to life's questions, it provides a way for us to be with our families forever. So that's why things like that break my heart. Because I love these people with my whole heart. And I know that this message will bless them so much. And so I just get really sad for them when they turn that opportunity down.  it's really hard. 

   Also this week most of our investigators stopped progressing and no one came to church on Sunday. woohooo sad times=growing opportunities. But, I know that things will get better. In the meantime, Heavenly Father is just helping me develop the Christlike attribute of patience. 

  At trainer's training, our mission president gave us a really great analogy that really resonated with me and i thought i would share. He told a story about a man whose master told him to move this bolder and so every day the man went out and pushed and pushed with all his might and just kept trying and trying. Then one day, an old man walked by and said to him "What are you doing? You can't move that bolder." The man replied " My master told me to push this bolder". The old man laughed at him and said "Your master must think you a fool. Because you could push that bolder every day of your life and never be able to move it an inch. you are wasting your time." The old man walked away but the words he said stayed with the man and he began to doubt his master and became so discouraged, thinking "why would he give me a task I cannot accomplish so he sat down and stopped trying. A little while later, his master came by and asked him why he was sitting and pouting. The man asked his master why he would tell him to move this bolder if it was impossible. He said "Do you think me a fool, I know this is impossible". The master calmly and lovingly responded " I did not tell you to move this bolder. I told you to push. And what has happened to you when you obeyed and did what I told you? Look! Your arms have become strong, you have gained much strength because you have pushed against this bolder. I told you to push because it would make you better, but I never promised you that you could move this.That was not my plan"

This story is so powerful and true in our lives I think. A lot of times, God gives us trials and hard things and he doesn't intend for us to conquer them. Sometimes, our weaknesses,shortcomings or hard times are simply there to make us stronger. So I've decided that I will keep pushing, and keep trying to be exactly obedient, even when every single person turns us down. Even when I try harder and harder and just feel like the more I try to learn this language or learn how to be a good missionary the worse I get at it all. Because I know that God has a plan. And I cannot understand why this has to be so hard or what his plan is but I know that everything he does is for our benefit. He loves us so much. We are so blessed everyday. 

    I know everyone who reads this email faces different struggles each and everyday but please keep pushing. Don't give up. We can do hard things!! Because we NEVER do them alone. You have a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan and if we do our very best to follow him, he will always lead us to a better day, a better life, and a happier ending where we can one day be with him again.

     I love you all so much thank you so much for the encouragement and love if your letters each week. It literally means the world to me and helps keep me going! Thank you for your examples of faith and Christlike love. Have a wonderful week.

Mahal Kita!

Sister Turner:)

Miracles Happen Once In A While

If you read the title of this email and started singing that song from Princess Diaries then you are awesome. and I love you.

Okay so. This week has been crazy. 

Last Sunday as we were walking to an appointment in the dark, this dog started barking and going crazy(it was tied up but i questioned the strength of it's rope) so in trying to protect myself from getting rabies(which we received like a whole lesson on how a heck ton of dogs here have it and if you get it you will die.) I was quickly walking and keeping my eyes on this dog so i would know if it was going to attack me. ANYWHO because i was distracted and tired and it was dark I didnt see this huge tire in the road and I tripped and fell (gracefully, may i add. I asked my companion if I was as graceful as Jennifer Lawrence when she fell at that award show and she said yes so I felt better). Anyways, so I fall down and twist my arm and crazy scrape my knees and hands and it was just grand. There were also two ladies literally sitting right in front of me and apparently Filipinos like to talk because like 3 days later we went to teach a lesson and the investigator had heard about me falling from like her neighbor's cousin. Word travels fast. Also I was almost hit by a jeepney and then another time i was trying to avoid a motorcycle and fell in barbed wire. (why is there so much barbed wire here? seriously. )I think i'm giving my trainer grey hairs and no kidding about the tetnis shot thing. Woohoo adventures. I'm fine though. 

We have a lot of funny experiences with guys thinking we are cute and saying stuff to us because they think we can't understand Tagalog haha it so funny. But sometimes it's better when they try to speak English to us. Yesterday we were going to an investigators house to teach and this guy followed us for like ten minutes calling us cowgirls. And the other day in the store they were playing country music. Like legit country. Like Garth brooks and stuff. haha Everyone loves country because it is the best. obviously. I guess you can take the sister missionary out of the south but you can't take the south out of the foreign country that she is serving her 18 month mission in. I love it.

This week was really special. We have had so many miracles. When we go tracking, we knock on random doors and talk to random people and hope they will let us share our message. It's usually not too successful but this week we found way golden people who were so prepared the gospel but here's the best part. every person we found was FLUENT IN ENGLISH and actually preferred to be taught in English. Most Filipinos understand some English but not really so this was a huge miracle. I was able to teach them and really 100% follow the spirit. It was like Christmas. Really it was. If God sent me half way around the world to find every English speaker in the Philippines and teach them the gospel then that is fine by me and it was well worth the trip. 

Annie's baptism was great! She is so wonderful. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to share such a special day with her. One of the speakers didn't show for her baptismal service so last minute I was chosen to give a ten minute talk in Tagalog. I don't know why they keep doing that(making me speak). I'm probably the comic relief but it went alright and I think she really felt the spirit and had a good experience so that is all that matters. 

This week we will be having trainer's training where I get to see sister wilkinson and elder winkler so i'm really excited to see them again and exchange stories. Also general conference this weekend! Woohoo. gonna be a great week

Love you all!

Mahal Kita,

Sister Turner

Volcano and Pants On The Ground

Hello Family and Friends!

Here's some fun facts about the Philippines for you:

1. Apparently the word "sexy" here means cute. So there's no need to be alarmed when your mission president's wife tells you repeatedly in public how you and the sister's you are with are the "sexiest sister missionaries she's ever seen"

2. Traffic here is crazy. Like I literally can't even describe it. My mom would probably have a heart attack if she saw me crossing the street here. They don't have stop signs or stop lights and maybe not speed limits either so it's kind of a do or die situation. Sister Mccord always says "If you hesitate, they will hit you, and if you don't hesitate, you have a better chance for survival". Soo yeah. haha I'm getting pretty good at it though.

3. They have super awesome transportation here (google jeepney and trycees). Last pday we went a couple towns over to buy wilderness explorer supplies(waterproof bags) and we rode a jeepney. It's so funny here. You know that tv show "pimp my ride"? I swear there need to be a show called "pimp my jeepney". They are so swagged up. Like the one we rode in had disco lights and music blasting and they are basically party buses. Confession: Every time we ride in one I silently pray that the new taylor swift album will come on the radio(Sorry I know that's not a good missionary thing but i'm not a perfect person) But apparently according to my companion it takes like 4 months for new songs to get here. Dang.

okay so last week Caree Campbell sent me an awesome quote(Love you caree! Hope your first week in the mtc was good!) She said to expect miracles, and then pray for them. Because Heavenly Father has so many blessings to give us but we have to ask for them. So anyways, this week I was so determined to have so many miracles. I was so pumped. Right before I got to this area it was split and so all of our investigators were basically lost so we do A LOT of tracking(which is when we go around to random houses/people and ask them if they would like to hear our message). So on Tuesday we go to track this area and it was so hot like so so so so hot as the sun hot. And we are walking through these rice fields and get to this way far out jungle village and we are going around trying to talk to people and no one will listen to us so we keep climbing up this mountain and it's literal hiking because there are fallen trees and stuff but I'm so excited because I was so sure when we got to the top of this mountain on the hottest day of life that we would have a miracle. So we go to all the houses and then we get to the top and the lady that lived there told us she wasn't interested and then as we were walking away she warned us to watch out for all the snakes on the path. OH THANK YOU. #ignoranceisbliss I think hiking 2 miles down a mountain in a skirt on a snake path validates my self proclaimed woman warrior title. haha I was definitely a lot more cautious of my surroundings as we walked down. 

It's funny because they saw the Philippines has two temperatures: hot and hotter. But I think that "wet and wetter" describes my life better. You are either dripping from sweat or rain 100% of the time. haha The day after the super hot day we had a mini typhoon and we were walking through it and the streets had like a foot of water in some parts so we are trying to jump from edge to edge because the water is poop water essentially. haha it's so fun. I am single handedly testing the effectiveness of the tentus(sp?) shot. 

Then Tuesday night we went to teach Annie! She is the best person ever. Her husband recently died and she is a single mom of 6. She is so strong. Last week I had the opportunity to extend the baptism invite to her and she will be getting baptized this Saturday! She is literally so strong and has the most inspirational faith. I will send you a pic of her baptism next week! Her little girl is so cute and as we were leaving she tried to come with us and then when her mom made her come back she yelled "BUHBYE,GOD BLESS,INGAT(take care)". She is so cute. I love that family.

When we were walking home from Annies, we saw Mount Mayon Erupt. It's so crazy that I happened to be in the area right next to the Volcano when it erupted. haha Let all the jokes about my bad luck with things catching on fire around me start when you read this. But yeah it was pretty crazy. We went and watched it erupt on the roof of the Elder's apartment with them and as soon as we got up there, it stopped. It was so anti-climatic, but at least we saw it a little aha.

Okay this is random and not really missionary like but I was thinking about it this week and my life here is literally Lord of the Rings. Here's why: We are on a quest(telling people about Jesus), Satan is trying to kill us, There are volcano's erupting, the spiders are huge, my feet are so gross nasty blister hobbit feet, and i'm like always hungry and wanting second breakfast. Also, I am a huge person living in a tiny world. Like I literally hit my head at least 4 times a day on doorways, roofs, you name it. I need a helmet. Maybe if it's classy enough they will add that into the missionary dress and grooming guidelines. haha it is so funny.

Oh man I have got to tell you about Nanay Mercader! She is this cute little old woman who is too frail and sick to go to church now so we go and visit her but she is just the best. She was the very first member of the church here but she tells me every time we visit her "Sister! Did you know I am the first member of the church"(like in the world.) It's so cute! So this week we went to visit her and her like 30 year old son was there and she was standing up and talking to us and all of the sudden his pants just FELL OFF. Like I don't know how and I don't why. Don't worry, my pure missionary eyes looked away quick enough and didn't see anything they shouldn't have but I saw enough to know he was not wearing anything else. But here's the amazing part of this story! I didn't even laugh. I just looked away and kept talking about Jesus Christ until he got everything figured out. I am so proud of myself. Missions really do change people. hahahahha My companion and I have lots of fun stories like that. 

We went to teach some people who lived by the railroad tracks here and there were all these cute kids playing outside and as we walked by they would run after us saying "Sister sister!!" and then take our hands and put the back of our hands to their foreheads which is the sign of ultimate respect here. And it was the cutest moment of life. The kids here are so cute they make my heart melt like a Popsicle on the fourth of July. I am going to adopt them all after my mission. 

Because of the Volcano erupting, the Sister's from the area closest to the lava flow had to evacuate and are staying with us. It is so fun. I love them. They are sister Sesagi and sister finau and are from somoa and tonga. 

Here's a funny story. So it's my second week right? And we had to do exchanges with the sisters staying with us and split our appointments. Which meant that my second week here I had to be senior and lead all the lessons and find them. Fun fact about the Philippines: there are no addresses. It's like when my mom gives directions "turn right at the blue gate and left at the big tree". haha so I'm trying to lead and have no idea where the houses were and was completely reliant on the spirit. I would literally stop on every corner and ask my new companion "which way do you think we should go" and just kept going to houses that might have been right and then when it wasn't right I would just talk to the people in that houses and get referrals and return appointments. We actually had so much success that day and found everyone and got alot of new investigators. It was the most evident example of "blind leading the blind" that I've ever seen in my life but I guess the spirit was the one really leading so it was all right in the end.

The past 2 weeks have mainly taught me how I can't do a single thing by my self and if I think about myself there is no way I could serve a mission here. It is so hard. BUT I'm so lucky because the Philippines is a really great place to loose yourself in the work and serve others. I love the people here and look forward to when I can understand and help them 100%. 

Thank you all for the love and support! I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Mahal Kita,

Sister Turner:)