Surgery and being tough like Kolipoki

Hello Everyone!

  So you can probably tell from the title of this email I have had a pretty interesting week. Honestly, I feel like I have been tested and tried in every way imaginable but I am grateful because I have learned a lot and like a great man once was told "all these things shall be for your own good and give thee experience"(Joseph smith history). So I've been thinking of that a lot. But anyways, this week was cool because my trainer here in the mission, sister mccoard came back for a day to do some paperwork and we got to work together again! We spent the morning going around to old investigators of hers and surprising them, it was so fun. Then Wednesday afternoon, we worked with Sister whannga,who will be going home this transfer. She is from New Zealand and has an awesome accent and an even cooler personality. I really enjoyed working with her and we laughed a lot and had some great lessons. Wednesday night, we went on splits where I worked with a member and sister vi and sis.w worked together so we could get to more appointments. It was a neat experience to work with just a member but also weird to be the "only missionary" and teach it all yourself. I was able to see how far I have come in teaching,language and just being a missionary in general. It was cool. I'm glad there is progress!haha:) It was especially nice we were able to have those splits so we could get to more of our investigators because on Thursday I had surgery on my sad little foot.

 If having a surgery in a foreign country on your foot as a missionary(your feet are kind of the most important thing!) sounds terrifying to you, you've about got it right. I don't want to get into too much detail in this email but I will say that I was awake for it and I felt it even though I had numbing shots (which by the way ouch) I could feel it all and it was a very unpleasant and weird experience. haha I kept telling myself "Don't cry, be tough like Kolipoki from the other side of heaven" but Sometimes it's hard to be tough! There may or may not have been tears shed. I may or may not have really wished my mom was there. It's crazy the feeling you have laying on an operating table in the Philippines by yourself with a bunch of nurses and doctors cutting into your body. It's really lonely. It doesn't help when the sassy doctor says stuff like "Sister? does it hurt? You can just pray to your God to take away the pain. Or sing a hymn. or say the ten commandments" in a super condescending tone and then all the nurses laugh. Yeah. Sometimes it's really hard to be like Jesus and love people even when they are rude and hurting you. But if we had no mountains to climb in our lives we would never get any better or higher (closer to God) right? Anyways, the actual surgery was pretty short but afterwards the hospital saga continued when the doctor decided to demand double the amount of the operation for his own "personal fee". (Because he saw i was american and thought i was rich). Anyways, good thing  my parents taught me to stand up for myself and how to be smart. They looked pretty surprised when instead of forking over all my money, I started using legal terms and asked to speak to the legal representative for their hospital and then correlated the stuff between them and church legal. hahaha oh man. Talk about bizarre situations. Anyways, we ended up not having to pay and the APs came and picked us up which was so kind because I couldn't really walk and we were kind of far from the stop with all the buses and stuff. 

Once at the house a new kind of challenge began and I was officially a missionary on bed rest. What is there to do? Eat. sleep. take medicine. read the scriptures, read every ensign in the house, cry,pray, get over myself, laugh with your companion, learn how to braid hair, intense tagalog study, listen to every efy song you have 12 times over, organize your desk 20 times, miss your investigators, pray for your investigators, talk to your neighbors through the window...and many more. Basically life in the house is BORING and really hard to stay happy because you start to feel really worthless really fast. I was in the house for 4 days straight and it literally was driving me crazy! I understand fully now the meaning of "cabin fever". On Sunday, we weren't going to go to church because I still couldn't really walk but I felt very strongly we needed to go and I knew that if the Lord wanted me there, he would provide a way. So we made our way there and left after sacrament. Nothing crazy or significant really happened but I felt sure I was where the Lord wanted me in that moment and I knew I had followed the promptings of the spirit so I felt very happy:) I was supposed to be on bedrest for a week but am taking cheat breaks like church and emailing at the computer shop right now. I should be okay by Wednesday! I hope and pray because I think I will seriously go crazy if I am in the house much longer and I want to WORK!!!!!!!!!!!  I've had a lot of time to ponder this week and think about how to become a better missionary and better serve the people in my area so i'm excited to be able to get back out there and work. 

Anyways, I love you all and thanks for the emails and support. Please pray for our investigators that they will be alright even though we haven't been able to go to them for so long. 

Mahal ko kayo lahat palagi,

Sister Turner:)

6 Months

'Musta!   

So this week was a hoot and a half. One cute thing that happened was we were teaching Miernna, our recent convert and reviewing the Word of wisdom, we asked her what living the word of wisdom was and she responded "Love yourself". haha So true Nanay. Simple, powerful, to the point. Remember to love yourself this week! 

We had interviews with our mission president this week which was cool. We only get to see slash talk to him about once every 3 months so it was nice to chat again. Lots of wise words and encouragement which was both much needed and much appreciated. BTdubbs my mission president is Jovy Quanzon who used to be one of the 70 before he became my mission president. So not to brag or anything but thats pretty dang legit! 

    We taught out sweet investigator Nanay Wana about word of wisdom and after she said she understood everything, we ended the lesson and she goes "sisters! sisters! You have to stay for coffee!!!!" haha guess we didn't teach that clearly enough. We ended up having juice and all was well. 

    I feel struggling with what to say with this email honestly. It's like the longer I'm out here the weirder it is to sum up my life here. I can't believe I hit my 6 month mark this week. That is literally SO WEIRD. Time is literally flying. 

In Honor of my 6 months, I thought I would make a list of things I have learned here so far:

1. Rice can literally make or break a meal. (I burned the rice 2ce this week but we ate it anyways because it's tithing money baga!)

2. It's not weird at all to shake 500 hands a day (honestly I don't think i'm exagerating)

3. The scriptures are AMAZING! And you seriously can apply the words in the scriptures to any problem or concern or happening in life

4. I hate dogs with barking complexes

5. I love cute fluffy dogs who are quite

6. I can now sleep through roosters going off at 3 am

7. EFY music can literally turn your whole day around for the better (shoutout to that new song "closer!")

8. GABI is the best food on earth and I will eat it forever oh my word.

9. It's okay to be awkward

10. It's okay to laugh at the awkward

11. Actually the best policy all together is LAUGHING.Sometimes life gives you lemons, just drink your lemonade and smile.

12. attitude is EVERYTHING

13. Always bring your umbrella.I mean always. Trust me.

14. Don't scream when you see the snakes,spiders,rats,(insert scary animal here). Just move over and keep on keeping.

15. You need to LOVE the members. Members are everything in the work of salvation. and more than that, they are your family while you are away from yours. build them up.

16. I love walking

17. I hate walking

18. Singing that sound of music song "climb every mountain" while climbing an actual mountain is actually very inspirational and helpful

19. I actually know 2 languages! Kind of. Sometimes I speak in Tagalog and don't realize it. PROGRESSING! 

20. When you want to cry, pray instead

21. when you want to scream, pray instead

22. When literally everything is falling apart in the world. Just pray. Pray always

23. Meaningful prayers

24. Compromise with companions (I now see how missions really do prepare you for marriage)

25. Gratitude for the smallest things

26. How dang spoiled I am

27. How much the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed my life.

28. I LOVE the book of Mormon so much. I just want everyone to read my favorite book! Because I know it will change their lives for the better. Because the closer we get to God, the better everything gets and through the BOM we really do get closer to him.

29. I understand so much better now the atonement of Jesus Christ and how it applies in my life. 

30. Patience is perfection

31. Patience is really really hard sometimes. 

32. We can find blessings in even our hardest days if we are just looking for them. 

33. No one wants to listen to you until they themselves feel listened to!!!!

34. Be a FRIEND to everyone.

35. Always carry 50 Pecos for emergency transportation,water or bathroom (you have to pay to use public restrooms slash buy your own toilet paper)

I have learned so much. Like silly how to survive in the wilderness things and serious, testimony building things. I'm just so grateful for all I have been able to experience and learn so far and I hope that I can continue to learn and grow anymore. I can already see I have changed so much! It's crazy.

The Lord has a plan! We just have to trust him and give him the lead in our lives!! 

One of my favorite scriptures from my personal study this week was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. Let's just trust him with everything and be grateful for the things he gives us. Even the weaknesses and the infirmities and everything. Blessings in disguise. Let's find the lesson in the trial and become who he wants us to be!

Love you all so much!

Sister Turner:)

Pope Francis

Kumusta! Sobrang mabalis yong week na ito. Salamat para sa lahat suporta ibinigay ninyo sa akin sa pamamagitan ng mga sulat at salita mo. Mahal ko kayo lahat tailiga. 

This week we had alot of "ayaws". In tagalog, ayaw means "don't like" or "not interested". I'm not sure what caused it but maybe because the Pope is here visiting in the Philippines. No one would listen to us. It was honestly weird because we went to visit people and it's like everyone in this country was watching the Pope do mass on the television. It was like being in Salt Lake on General Conference weekend! haha Sister Vi and I were able to have some good humor with all the situations though and just laughed as the ways people hid from us/blew us off this week. Really. Shout out to creativity! Sister Vi thought it was funniest when people would come to the door, look us straight in the eyes and then not say a word a shut the door and lock it but I personally thought the funniest was when we went to visit some parents who we had taught before and they asked us to come back. Their kids opened the door and when we asked if their mom was home they said yes and went to get her. Then they came back and said no one one home. So them we asked the kid when his mom would come home and he turns and yells "Momma! when will you come home??" hahaha oh man. Gotta laugh so we don't cry.

This week we had another Typhoon but it wasn't too bad, we had a curfew at 6pm though so it was nice we didn't have to work through it. Oh the way home mga 5:30 we really wasn't to try oym'ing one more house even though the storm was already pretty bad. A sweet couple let us in their home and we had a very spiritual lesson with them. I think my favorite thing to teach is that through sacred ordinances in the gospel of Jesus Christ, It is possible for families to be together forever. How great is my calling that I get to share that message with families who love each other and help them on the path to a temple of God where they can be sealed with the restored priesthood authority of God. 

One miracle that happened this week was we went to pick up an investigator for church the day after the typhoon and she ended up saying she didn't want to come so as we were leaving her house we were power walking so fast to get the 2 miles from her house to the church in 5 minutes so we wouldn't be late (haha hey! a girl can dream,right?) She lives on the railroads and the mud in between the tracks was so slippery. I was walking and all of the sudden like slipped so bad but instead of twisting my ankle or falling down the cliff on the side I just slid for a while and then recovered! BLESSINGS! It was such a close one hah.

Oh and fun fact in case you were wondering, it takes approximately 7 days to walk enough to have holes in your plastic crocs you buy in the Philippines. I have already walked holes in 2 shoes and 2 ruined from water damage and 1 eaten by a dog during a lesson. I hope I can find some today to tide me over until my package from home with shoes gets here. I don't know if all my shoes breaking are a sign we are hard working or I need better shoes. Probably both. haha My companion and I at least both have unity because we both walk around with holey shoes and I'll be like "sister! You're so righteous, even your shoes are holey!" (10 points to whoever gets the Harry Potter reference in that) 

All in all I can't complain because even when times are hard, we are still doing the Lords work and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else doing anything else.

Hope you all have a great week!

Sister Turner:)

p.s- I'm turning 20 years old next month!!!!! If you happen to want to send cards/letters maybe I'll just self-promote and give my address since I don't think I have ever given it. This is for the mission office and if you send it here, they will get it to me. Thanks! Love yall:)

152 Rizal Street

Barangay Sagpon, Daraga

4501 Albay, Philippines

Picture Paloza

Magandang hapon sa inyo lahat!

Okay so this week's email is going to be pretty embarrassing because to be honest with you I don't really remember what happened. I left my planner at the house and I am sitting here in a total blank.All I remember is working really hard and being physically,mentally and emotionally exhausted. I think that means I'm doing good work. haha Our mission started a new standard to OYM or "open your mouth" more. Which means that everyone we talk to we should bring up the church and our message and testify and give them a pamphlet. We had done this a lot  before going house to house but now we talk to people headed the same way as us on the street, the checker outer at the grocery store,the jollybee delivery man- everyone! It is so fun. I tell sister Vi that we are "Lean,mean, OYM'ing machines. I really like this new focus for the mission because it helps us recognize how much unseen work we do. Like we may only have 2 or 3 lessons a day if everything falls through but we do like 20oyms/testifying so it's a good days work. 

Yesterday I saw a man in the street killing a huge 3 foot snake with a stick and like stabbing it in the head and i just walked by him and kept going to our appointment. Oh my heck. I can't believe myself, a new and changed woman I tell you!

We just found out transfers and I will be staying here in Daraga for another transfer(6 weeks) with sister Vi. I am really excited to stay here and try to work and make this area the very best it can be before i leave. We haven't had to much time this last transfer to work with our normal investigators because of the typhoon and then holidays and everyone was out of time so i am excited to have more time to work with them. I can't believe this month will be 6 months in my mission. It really does fly by. 

Sorry I will try to keep better track of everything that happens this week to have a better email next week. 

Mahal Kita!

Sister Turner:)

Bowling by the ocean

Magandang aral! 

Can you believe it is 2015??The year has just flown by... especially the past 5 months! I'm so excited for this year because I get to be a full time missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints for the whole thing. It's gonna be the best!

Anyways, I hope you all had a really great new years eve. I really had a lot of fun on December 31 because every time I left an appointment or ran into someone i knew on the street, I got to say "Goodbye, see ya next year!" and just like on Christmas eve lots of nice families fed us lots of yummy food. I decided I wouldn't even make the annual "get skinny" resolution this year because I know better than to diet as a missionary. Instead my goal is to eat more fruits and vegetables and remember to take my calcium pills so my bones don't break in a typhoon. So yeah, I'm excited to be healthier this year! And maybe learn how to cook. I'll just go for a general "be more domestic" rule haha:) 

We had a 6pm curfew on new years eve and once we were inside and about to make dinner we all realized that we had NO RICE. which is a pretty dire situation to find yourself in. We had to call the APs and have them bring us rice (because they are the only ones with no curfew...and cars). I felt like i was living the real life story of the 10 virgins and the 5 who didn't have oil... yeah. We will be getting our food storage again today during grocery shopping. They were really nice though so we were able to eat that night. I can't believe I didn't stay up till midnight. I think we were allowed to because the fireworks/celebrations were so loud they didn't expect us to sleep but I was out of it and slept all night so I woke up in 2015 and kind of felt like I missed it. haha my companion said she had fun though.

I guess I gave my companion the sicknesses I had to my companion so we spent some more time inside this week as she tried to get better. I made good use of the time though and read 2 church history books. Today was fun because we went bowling for our district activity. We went to this big mall by the ocean and it was SO PRETTY. I wanted to stay there forever. I actually bowled a pretty good game and even got a strike which was pretty awesome. It felt like a bowling ally back home except for the fact that I was wearing flip flops."It's more fun in the Philippines":)

Not all too much else really happened this week. We honestly had a rough time with ALOT of rejection. It was kind of really hard to be honest. The hardest moment of the week was probably when we were teaching our GOLDEN investigator family who i love so much and they are so great and excited to learn more and be baptized and the lesson went great. As we were walking out (they live in the top floor apartment of the husbands' mother's house) the mom came out of the house down stairs and stopped us. She said "Can I talk to you both?" oh course we said yes and she goes "Could you please never come back to my house again? If Jessica wants to listen to you she can meet you somewhere else but I never want to see you here again". OUCH. OH course we tried to be respectful of her wishes and just thank her and head on our way but it was so sad. I had met the mom when I tracked Jessica my 3rd week in the Philippines and she was so kind and gracious to us. I guess when Jessica told her she knew our church was true and right for her so she and her husband wouldn't be attending the family church anymore, she got very angry. It was crazy to see how much her countenance had changed. I tried to understand her point of view but the whole situation is just so sad. The couple wants to be taught still but I don't want to tear this family up more. I have been fasting and praying about them and still have no idea what to do. Hopefully I don't get transferred next week because I really want to stay and help them figure things out. I know that this work isn't supposed to be easy because we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We shouldn't expect everyone to like us because not everyone loved him. We can't feel angry when people go crazy and turn their backs on us because he dealt with that too. I'm really grateful for the experiences I have been having because I am truly able to understand better and a little more clearly the savior's atonement for us. I'm grateful that someone out there knows exactly what it feels like to walk around for hours in the rain and talk to everyone and everyone rejects you. I'm glad I'm never alone in his work. 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful 2015!

Mahal Kita,

Sister Turner:)

p.s- i'll send lots of cool pictures next week!

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.