That filippino Life

Hello!!!

I feel like I haven't written in so long and so many awesome crazy different things have occurred and I only have a few minutes to write this and then write my mission president so I will just type way fast and hope that my stories make sense. Sorry! I'll repent and time manage better next week. 

Manilla MTC:

So I loved my time at the MTC here but it was so crazy different from Provo. Like you wouldn't even believe. For example, we wake up at 6 and do a military style line up outside and then we have workout time. The military life really isn't for me BUT the spirit was super strong while we were there and it was neat to experience another MTC's style. Also they had the best food of life. Our district decided to play badminton for gym time and we killed it. Professional over here. haha jokes. It was really fun to try though. 

One cool thing we do at the MTC there is go out proselyting in the nearby cities  So we got to practice some of our Tagalog and it was just the coolest thing. We taught lessons on floors and met the COOLEST people. Gosh I just love everyone so much.  

Okay so moving onto my time in the mission field. 

My companion/trainer is Sister McCord from Provo,Utah. She has been out in her mission for 11 months and it literally the coolest person ever. She is helping me so much and i love her. She reminds me of my sister Zera who is also the coolest person ever so that's pretty neat. (I miss you Zera!) It's funny because sister W's comp is from Georgia and was sister mccord's comp in the MTC so we kind of switched. I am assigned in Daraga which is a big city about 15 minutes from Legazpi. It's way cool because it is where all the ZL's,STL's,AP's and mission president are so we get to see them a lot. In our apartment is me, sister Mccord, and the two Sister training leaders. I think it's funny how I am always roomies with the Sister Training Leaders. Guess they gotta keep an eye on me or something. I can't send pictures this week but i'll try next time. Our apartment is pretty nice. My bed is all cute and filippino and on the floor and it feels like a cloud. It is my favorite thing ever. During the Typhoon our house was alittle damaged so the bathroom door flew off and we don't have one but we have toilet paper so I'm in no position to complain. haha It's funny because right after I got here there was a typhoon(little one, like we could walk through it) but i guess it messed up some wires so we didn't have power or water for a few days. I am learning how to be a pioneer. All the roomies felt bad that I didn't get a "nice week in the Philippines  before everything went crazy" but I'm really fine with it. I told them sorry and it's probably my fault because I skipped out on that one trek like 4 years ago and now God is just giving me a chance to experience it. Gosh the people here are just the best. haha Every single person I meet tells me I'm beautiful.Like literally to my face just that.Also that I am huge. My favorite occurance was when i was teaching my first family and the teenage boy asks me how old I am and we were both 19 and he goes "wow! you're overgrown!" hahaha it was so funny because i am way taller than everyone here. I don't get offended when every person I meet basically calls me fat to my face because they are just so sweet. It's weird how height is associated with age here. Like if you're tall they expect you to be like 30 which makes no sense to me because none of the old people here are tall haha oh well.  silly comments like that just make me love them more. The boy followed the "overgrown" comment by telling me I look like a hollywood movie star so he was easy to love after that. haha I swear nothing boosts your self estem like people telling you how gorgeous you are when you are gross and sweaty and wearing no makeup. I'm always just like Salamat!! Also people call me barbie. Which is funny because that's not me at all but I guess it just means doll face. (throwback to the procaine doll joke).

Oh man I know I'm forgetting so many things but I'll tell at least one experience I had. So when the power was out we still went to teach because we are awesome woman warrior filippino sister missionaries and that's what we do. Anyways, so we were in these little cute houses teaching by candle light and one of them we were reading the book of mormon with the kids and the family and it was basically the best moment of my life! Also funny how the little 3 year old could read the tagalog scriptures better than me but that's okay because she's had 3 years and I've only had like 8 weeks. Oh man so many things i wish i could say but no time. 

My first sunday in church was crazy and terrifying and I walked in the door and they asked me to give a 7 minute talk in Tagalog like 5 minutes before it started but it was fine and i have no idea what i said but I didn't pass out from fear so that's a start. I literally don't think I've ever been that afraid of speaking in my life. God definitely helped me out. Oh yeah, it's the craziest thing. As soon as I got here, Tagalog has been so much better for me.Don't get me wrong, it is still way hard and frustrating at times and I'm no pro at all but it's way better than in the MTC. Everyone says I speak like I've been in the field for 4 months which is crazy because i'm really not that good. But i teach lessons and OYM and go up to random people and houses and talk to them first and I love it. I'm choosing faith over fear and it's so great. Nothing scares me anymore! (except for church haha). I feel the spirit helping me so much every day it is amazing. I know that the language will come especially with my awesome trainer and the lord on my side. I'm excited when I can really speak to these people. We were at the old bishops' house last night for dinner and he told me that I would be fluent in Tagalog in 3 months(at the end of my training). I told him I hoped he still had the gift of revelation from being bishop haha. I'm not really pushing time at all though, I'm just going to push myself every single day and work crazy hard and everything will come in the Lord's time. Oh also no time now but remind me to tell you about when I accidentally tracked some Cathloic nuns.

Oh man it is so different here and really hard sometimes but it's weird because in a way I really feel Like I'm coming home here. Like somehow I belong. I love it here. 

Love you all! sorry this was so scatterbrained and I left abunch out. 

Muhal Kita!

Sister Turner