The Work Hastens. . .

Things have been going well this week. I tend to judge my week and days by how well I personally taught that day. Yesterday, I ended pretty well. So I am in good spirits! I just have to remind myself sometimes that I have been out for one transfer, and I am not going to be the perfect missionary. I have to remember that I am new and still learning.

Our flat. The bugs have been gross, especially the maggots. But we haven't had any experiences that have been too bad since then. It is gross. But there isn't much we can do. We keep it clean. And just hope that it helps! Hopefully we can get it sprayed again soon. And hopefully it will work this time. The door though, Mom, don't worry so much about the door. Also, you can't even get into the flat complex is you aren't staying there, or you have someone with you that does. It is a very safe and calm place. As is Vereeniging.

Teaching has been pretty good lately. We have five baptisms planned for the end of this month. Here we baptize the last Sunday of the month, and then confirm the next Sunday, in Sacrament Meeting. Anyway, we have Dmitri - who was going to get baptized last month, but we pushed it to this month, just more time to prepare - he is definitely ready. He has the support of his mom, who was baptized in January. We are also teaching a woman named Sheila, and her two girls, Phatty (17) and Mphumi (12). Sheila attended a funeral at our church and "felt something different" so they just started coming to church. They like it and are very prepared for the gospel. Phatty is only 17 but her knowledge and testimony are strong! We are teaching a young woman named Lerato. She is the Bishop's niece and lives with them permanently. We randomly asked her one day when we were going to teach her and her response was, "today". So we have been teaching her for about a month. She definitely has a good support system and is prepared for the gospel as well.

Other people we have been teaching. Tau. He is a nineteen year old student, loves the church and understands it very well. He just has a hard time getting to church because it is far and he doesn't have funds to pay for the taxi every week. We are also teaching Sophia, a mother. She has looked into several churches, but never been baptized. She is very open to things, which is awesome. We asked her to be baptized next month, and she is hesitant, but we are working with that. We also started teaching Monica, the drunken lady. We hope it will help her life. We are teaching others as well, and there will be more to come about them as we continue teaching.

Here is a funny thing. We have been teaching a Less Active family. They were baptized not too long ago, maybe a year and a half. The Dad doesn't come to church, and sets that example. But we have been working with the rest of the family. There is a girl named Thato, she is super curious about everything. We were talking about the Ghosts, and the Holy Ghost, and evil spirits. I told her not to worry about the evil spirits because she has two powerful things they don't; the Holy Ghost, and a body. She looks at me, in a super concentrated look and asks, "So do those spirits wear clothes?" Haha! It was so funny! Kids. You never know what they are going to say!

The weather. It is funny. Summer is drawing to an end. So it has been raining a ton here. But this past week wasn't too bad. But it was getting colder. It has been in the sixties and overcast, but still pretty nice weather. All of the African's think it is freezing! They laugh when they are wearing coats and Elder Wilkinson and I are still wearing short sleeves! Haha! It is funny! I can't wait to see what winter here is really like! Supposedly it gets pretty cold. But we will see!

This week was good, some Bible bashing though. I don't know my Bible very well, but good thing Elder Wilkinson knows it well! It just shows how blind people can be without the Book Of Mormon! Stubborn people! Haha! But things are good! I am learning so much about the gospel! I love the time I get to read the Book Of Mormon, and I love the things I am learning. I may not be the strongest missionary, but I can say with surety that I know that this church is the only true church on the earth!

Love you all, and miss you all like crazy! And don't worry about praying for me too much. I need the prayers! Haha! Love you!

Love,

Turner

News and too much fast food!

Let me start out by saying, I miss you a ton. But I loved reading your letter. This week was a little bit crazy. We usually have about two hours to email. We are supposed to take an hour and a half. But it works out with the way that we pay that we have two hours on the computers. Anyway. I usually get somewhere between 12 and like 16 emails a week. And it takes me the full two hours to read and respond to everyone. However, when I got on today, I had 27 emails! Holy cow! I guess it shows me that I am loved. But I still only had the two hours. I usually read and respond to your letters last, but I didn't have time today with those two hours. But we are at this Casino for P-Day. It is called Emerald. But they have a computer place as well. So I get extra time today! Don't know if we are supposed to do that, but we are. Anyway. It was nice to read your email and not feel rushed. And feel like I have plenty of time to respond and say what I need to. Anyway, that was nice.

Alright. The questions. Let me see. Money. We get a little over one hundred a month. But the Dollar is more powerful than the Rand. It is about eleven Rand to one Dollar. Supposedly. But things even out because something at home that would be like four dollars is like 40 rand. So it is rough sometimes with money. The hardest part is eating out! We go to KFC a TON! I think I have eaten more KFC here than I have in my entire life! But we have decided that we are going to be better at not eating out! It is just hard, because our area is too far away from our flat to go back to eat. So if we get hungry, we just go get KFC or McDonalds! But we are going to be better at that.

People that feed us in our area. We really don't get fed that often. Basically, Bro. John's family, the ward mission leader, will feed us when ever we are there during meal time. But we try not to be there too often because we don't want to take advantage of them. And then we also get fed by Rahlda and Dmitri. They feel like the always need to feed us. Which they don't. They always have Coke for us. Which is another thing. I have had more cold drink (pop) here than I probably have in my lifetime! It's not good! I mean, it is good taste wise, but not good health wise! Anyway. So we don't actually get fed often.

Roaches. Ugh. So Thursday we decided to deep clean our apartment. Like deep deep clean. The roaches were everywhere. They were all through the fridge, freezer (those ones were dead, but still there), cupboards, bedroom, bathroom. Anyway. So we scrubbed everything. To perfection. We also bought cockroach powder and put it everywhere. I think it will work. But as of now, they are still everywhere. My theory is that they are all coming out of hiding and trying to escape. Because we see them in places that they usually aren't. So I think it will eventually help. But yeah. There was one in my bed once. So I am paranoid now and shake out all of my bedding every night before I go to sleep. So. The clean flat helps. And it is always nice to have a clean place to live anyway, cockroaches or no cockroaches. Oh and we realized that there were cockroach eggs almost everywhere! That was gross!

Black Mold. when we cleaned we scrubbed the bathroom. Just not the ceiling. Which is where most of it is. But we aren't responsible for that. According to the senior couple that is in charge of the housing situation. So..yeah. Not much we can do about that. But at least the shower is clean now! I scrubbed all of the mold out of it on Thursday when we cleaned!

The door. Still broken. One of the senior couples was supposed to come fix it on Wednesday, but they didn't. He has a bad back, so he didn't think he could do the hour drive to our flat complex. So they keep telling us it will get fixed, but it hasn't yet. We are in a relatively safe area. Well it is safe. When they look for flats for the missionaries, that is what they look for. Safe places. So we don't really worry about getting stuff stolen. But there always is a chance that it will. I mean, you can't completely out rule it. Our first day in the field, they talked to us about getting robbed. Most of the times people get robbed it is because they are being stupid. Like the missionaries. They are doing stupid things, like being out at night in the dark.

Alright. This week. On Tuesday we had new missionary orientation. So we had to drive to Roodeport. Which is where the MTC is. Where the MTC is there is a chapel, a CES building and a big field where we played sports in the MTC. Anyway, they are all surrounded by one big gate. But the New Missionary Orientation was in the CES Building. It was good. We were taught by the AP's, President Omer, and Sister Omer. A lot about not being stupid and staying out of trouble. They also explained how things work here a little bit and they went over any questions anyone had. I got to see everyone from the MTC. It was good. I mean, I didn't really make super good friends with anybody in the MTC. But it was good to see them still. After that, they fed us KFC, and then we were on our way back to the area to make it in time for our appointments.

Let's see. What else happened. This week we have done a lot of finding. Our new way is to hand our pass along cards. We write our number on them, which takes forever. not always the most fun. I mean, my hand cramps a lot, because we do about three packs each every time we hand them out! Anyway. We go to the busy parts of town and stand on the corner by the robots (stoplights). And then we hand them out. If people ask what it is, we tell them it's about the Church, and Jesus Christ and that we will come and discuss things with them whenever they want, they just have to call the number on the back. Anyway, we have had a couple of appointment come about from that already. We hope that more will come, but at the very least, it is planting a seed. The people may not even look at them for a couple years, but eventually they will end up in the right hand. The hand of someone ready to hear the gospel. We have also gone tracting. I hate tracting. Haha. I guess it is just my introvert-ness coming through! The houses here are all gated, and they have dogs. So we don't knock doors, we knock gates! And then when the people come out we have that long awkward stare. Waiting in silence for the people to come to the gate. And we just stare at each other. Yeah. Awkward! Haha! But I will get over my dislike for tracting. I need to, it needs to be done.

We got to help someone move again this last Saturday. Her name is Sister Andrews. Single lady, very nice. It was organized by the Elders Quorum President. Anyway. We took John (the ward mission leader) with us. We were the first ones there. We call it African time. When someone says eight, people don't come until like eight thirty. or nine! But this moving was a lot easier. We just loaded some boxes and off we went! Things were a lot more organized and actually clean! Haha! It is nice to get the opportunity to do service though. Good to fill our time doing something a little bit different than the usual!

The one thing that did stem from the moving project was the fact that our ward is not unified AT ALL! It stinks. I mean, like I said, it was organized by the Elders Quorum President, but he wasn't even there! There is also the fact that there is no other help from the other people in the ward! Nobody does their home teaching or visiting teaching! It is so frustrating! The less active people don't like seeing us, but they would totally be reactivated if they were visited by members! So annoying! People are just too into worrying only about themselves! Even the bishop sometimes has weird outlooks on things. But what can you do. He holds the keys to the ward, not us. It is just frustrating when he acts like to have a calling you have to be perfect! He literally won't give a calling to someone unless they are 100% active and strictly following all of the rules. I see the importance of those things, but callings, even if they are simple and small will help those people do the things they are supposed to! It will give them a sense of belonging and a reason to be at church, and a reason to improve their personal lives! Ugh! Oh well. Like I said, we don't hold the keys to the ward.

The blog looks great! Are you going to just post my letters there or what? It is fine with me if you want to. Because I know that there are people that would like to read my emails. Also, elder Wilkinson says that he thinks that there should be a picture of him there! Haha! You did get that picture of us from my first day right? I haven't even seen those, chances are I looked dead though!

Oh, here is some exciting news. Not really, but it is new. I got a haircut. Definitely not my favourite haircut I have ever gotten in my life. Let's just say that people in Utah are a lot better at cutting hair than the people here are! Haha! I think everyone is just used to cutting black people's hair! It isn't bad, I am just afraid to know what the back of it looks like! The lady just wasn't too great at blending the different lengths! Let's hope that it doesn't look bad though!

And Dad, way to go! It is awesome to hear that you are having success with Slim to Win! I will probably be the fattest one in the family when I get home. Whenever we get food from a member it is like 20 pounds of rice! I used to like rice..now..not so much! But guess I will have to get used to it! I still have like two more years of eating it! I also drink WAY too much cold drink (soda, mostly coke). And I eat out too much. McDonalds and KFC are really popular here. And they are nice to eat at because they are food that is close to home! It tastes a little different, but still similar! Haha, so far I haven't gained too much! But let's hope I don't gain any!

Anyway, it was good to hear from everyone. I love you all so much! I look forward to Mondays and the chance I get to hear about everyone and what is going on your lives! It is also nice to let you know what I am doing! Haha! Anyway, like I said I love and miss you a ton!

Love,

Turner

What do you sweep under your fridge?

News from my end. Umm..some good stuff..some not so good stuff.

We will start with the not so good. Well first off, this week hasn't been the greatest. But we have made a lot of plans to pick up our work, and increase our investigator pool. We have just decided that we need to be working harder. And don't worry, we won't work ourselves crazy. Just a little bit harder. It's a good thing.

Next not so good thing. We didn't end up baptising Dmitiri. We decided that his baptism needed to be pushed back a month. He was honestly okay with all of it, and seemed a little bit relieved. There has been some contention with he and his mom lately. Just mostly the fear that they are both slipping back into their old habits. But we had a good lesson, where they were able to open up to each other. They didn't necessarily get anything resolved, but they at least got some stuff out in the open. We encouraged them to have family prayer. Put any feelings or differences aside from at that moment and pray for help  in their relationship and understanding and trust. I think that will be one of the biggest things that will help them this week. We also will be teaching them how to have a family home evening today. So that will be good.

Let's see. What else happened. On Tuesday, we visit a lot of single sisters, and we can't see them without another male member. We have tried the past two weeks to go with the bishop's son, but he has been like hours late. The first time, we ended up taking the Bishop, but this past week we took the Bishops son. But he was still an hour late, so we missed one appointment. But, what can you do. Anyway. We had just dropped him off and we get this phone call from a lady named Monica. We visited her the week before, and she was nice. But definitely has a smoking and drinking problem. Anyway, she just kept calling us and telling us that we needed to hurry to her house. We got there, she was completely plastered. And she is already awkward with us when she is sober. But anyway. Her husband was trying to leave and she was trying to get us to make him stay, and she called the security company to have them come. Anyway, just a super awkward and uncomfortable situation. She made us dinner and really wanted us to stay there with her. Alone. Yeah, perfect. Just what we need, two young guys, with a drunk woman that just wants to flirt! Haha, anyway, we got out of it. She just gave us the food to take. Just an all over uncomfortable situation. Haha! Funny though.

Next. Let's see. It was Sister Shirene's birthday on Friday. She is the ward mission leader's wife. We love them. anyway, she has talked about liking McDonalds sundaes. So we went and got her one, and they just gave us a cup of ice cream! Haha, of Africa. Anyway, we gave it to her. A little disappointing present! Haha, it has just been a joke to go get a "plain sundae" from McDonalds now!

Also, our flat just keeps getting better and better! Haha, not! So you know how there is no door handle? Yeah, the door just completely decided to stop working this last Saturday night. It is stuck shut! So we have to climb out our window! Luckily there is a window big enough that we can fit out of! Haha! It is a tight fit, but it's all we can do! Just imagine two elders climbing out of their window in their suits to get to church on time! Haha!

Church. I gave a talk. Based on President Packer's talk from the last general conference about "The Key to Spiritual Protection". It went fairly well I think. Lots of people told me I did good. But you never know if they are telling the truth, or if they are just saying that because they feel obligated to say something nice. But we will just go with the first idea, that they actually enjoyed the talk! Haha!

Sunday we also went to this family named the Van Royens. They are nice. They have three kids. All very severely ADD. Haha! Anyway, one of us distracts the kids while one will teach. They climb all over us, poke us, play with our hair, and try to make us throw them up and catch them! They are fun, but the family is pretty poor, and is lacking in hygiene. Basically, a lot of people here do. But we leave their house literally dirty from the kids playing with us! Oh well!

 Teaching swim lessons was definitely a good help. I love kids, and there is one family that we are going to start to teach that has a little boy, he is at the ward mission leader's house all the time. Anyway, he loves me now. So that will honestly be a big help! I am super excited to teach this family though. We gave the wife a blessing a week ago. She just had a baby and she was really sick. She was supposed to be in the hospital for like another week and a half, and over her birthday, which she was worried about. Anyway, we have her a blessing, and she ended up getting out a week and a half early and in time for her birthday! Her husband now acts really excited to see us! So that is super cool!

Some more bad hygiene. We helped a family move last Saturday morning. Completely lacking in personal hygiene, and their home is disgusting. It smelled like a combination of old mean, wet dog, cat spray, and poop. And basically it smelled like that for a reason. They moved the fridge, and they had literally just been pushing dog poop under the fridge! The house and their stuff was so gross! Luckily Elder Wilkinson's grandma had sent him some work gloves, so he had a pair I could borrow. Definitely a blessing! It was definitely a gross experience, and I am glad it was over. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to help, and very glad for the service opportunity, but it was still quite the experience!

It is great to hear from everyone! I love you all so much! I miss everyone like crazy and pray for you all the time! I look forward to next week when I get to hear from everyone again!

Love you all like crazy!

Liver spread, rice, and more

Questions:

Service. No, nobody wants help here. We are planning on helping a family move though. We had planned to help a lady, Regina, clean her house, but she wasn't home. So we didn't get to. However, they did put tile in the church, like in the halls, and replaced all of the windows in the chapel, so the church was filthy. So we went and helped clean on Saturday morning. It was good to do something different!

Members. We go to our ward mission leaders house almost every day. He married and his wife had two kids before they got married. Matthew and Lily are their names. They are a super great family. Very kind. They love the church and have very strong testimonies. Anyway, John, the ward mission leader just got called, and is on fire, really wants to change things in the ward, which is great, because the last ward mission leader supposedly did nothing. His wife, Sherene, is great too. She teaches adult Sunday school. We went to her class this last Sunday, she is very knowledgeable about the gospel. Also, they both have our backs in everything, so that's good! They feed us often. We also have a mother and son. Dmitiri and Rahlda. We see them at least twice a week and they feed us every time. They are great. Rahlda got baptised like two or three weeks ago, and Dmitiri just had has baptismal interview this week and gets baptised on Sunday! Yesterday, we got invited to the old bishop's house for lunch. It was great. They are white, super nice, and not racist, which is a good thing here. We had a very normal meal. Roast beef, potatoes, salad, rice (there is always rice here. always), and pineapple. We then had waffles and ice cream. They are a good family. The were very welcoming. It felt like home.

Church was good. They have recently reorganized some of the auxiliaries, which is great. I wasn't there for the old ones, but Elder Wilkinson said that he can already tell a difference after one week. Last week, my first Sunday here, was stake conference, so not much went on there. At least that I understood.

We have district meeting every Friday. Elder Wilkinson is the District Leader. He does a good job. He says he doesn't, but his lessons are always really good. There are six of us in the district. They are all really cool. We all live in the same flat complex, so we see each other fairly often. Any way, after district meeting we always get fed at a restaurant owned by a member. Just a ton of meat and a TON of rice. It's good, but I am the only one that can't finish. And they all act like I'm an idiot when I can't! Haha, oh well!

First Zone Meeting is this Friday, so we'll see how that is.

Yes, we write the president weekly.

Our area definitely has some poor people, but it is considered a "town". So it is nicer than lots of areas. The other Elders in our district all serve in "townships", which is like tin shacks. But I think as far as right now, I don't need anything as far as things to donate.

Alright. My week.

Last Monday was good. We emailed, then shopped at the fruit and veg. It was good. Lots of fruit and vegetables!  Then we went to this place called pick and pay. A large grocery store. Basically like Wal-Mart. Then we went bowling. And, surprisingly enough, I won! Haha! I bowled like a 129! Crazy huh! Who would have thought I could win at bowling! Haha! Then we went and played "Magic the Gathering". It's like pokemon. Yeah, I don't get it. Then we played Phase 10, luckily I have played that plenty of times with our family! We then ended the day at Rahlda and Dmitri's. They fed us. I had lamb for the first time. It was actually pretty good!

I don't know if I can remember certain days, so I'll just write about different experiences we had!

We got a call from a lady and she asked us to come visit. We went, she is an older lady. I guess she has been to church a couple of times, but has Word of Wisdom problems. Anyway, she basically just wanted company. We told her we would keep coming as long as she would let us share a message with her. Her son is a member and the one pushing it. Any way. She brought out like a platter of crackers and stuff, something that we would have on Christmas Eve at our house! Any way. I learned not to ask what things are. I picked up a cracker, and then asked what was on it. She said liver paste. I had already picked it up, and there was no way I was getting out of it. Ew. I mean, it wasn't like the grossest thing in the world. But just thinking that not only was I eating liver, but it had been processed into a spread! Ick!

Later that same day, Dmitri had his baptismal interview, which was great. The Zone Leaders had to come interview him because Elder Wilkinson is the District Leader and normally does the interviews, but because he taught Dmitiri, he can't do the interview. Anyway, Dmitiri is getting baptised this coming Sunday after church!

What else happened. Oh yeah. The car. That was not a good day. So there is like an entrance/exit to our flat complex with like a key entry thing. Anyway, there is a curb dividing them. So starting from the beginning. It was the first day I was going to drive. Anyway. Driving on the other side of the car and other side of the road is WAY different. My bearings were all off. So I came up to the curb, though I was far away from it, but no. I slammed into it. Bent the rim of our tire. Yeah. Don't worry about it, I'm cool and really good at driving! Not! Anyway, thus far, the car is fine. So that's good. Let's just pray that nothing else happens!

Hmm..not much else has happened that I can think of. The work is good. But hard sometimes because, I don't know if I mentioned last week, but everyone goes to either school or work. So NOBODY is home during the day. So we have a really hard time trying to find things to do during the day. But late afternoons, we are really successful as far as lessons.

Anyway, It was good to hear from everyone. Except for the fact that neither Matthew or Rachel emailed me. Yeah, it's cool guys. We only live like on different continents, and don't have a ton of time during the week to talk, like no time at all! Haha, really though, it's fine. Love you all! I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

Life on the other side of the fence

President and Sister Omer

Turner with Elder Wilkinson

On the way to the mission home

We got into the field on Tuesday. We walked over to the church next to the MTC, and went over rules, interviewed with President Omer, basically, I bore my testimony of the Atonement and then he asked if I could drive, and if I knew how to drive stick! Haha! Luckily I don't have to drive yet, because the roads here are confusing!

Anyway, we waited for a while, oh and! One of the AP's knows who I am. It was weird. When they came to pick us up, he shook my hand and was like, "hey Turner", and walked away. I was so confused! Apparently he was in choir with me my sophomore year. He was friends with Tyler Ditty and Landon Peterson. Anyway, I still don't remember him and feel so bad! But...oh well what can you do!

Okay, anyway, my companion is great. His name is Elder Wilkinson. Geoffrey Wilkinson. He is the same age as Matthew, and actually reminds me a ton of Matthew, sometimes even the sound of his voice! It's weird, but comforting! Anyway, he is from Alpine and graduated from Lone Peak. I definitely think that was a blessing from the Lord. The fact that I have a trainer that I can relate to, and communicate well with, seeing as I have a hard time understanding the accents of the African's sometimes. Anyway, he tells me how much I remind him of how he was when he first came out into the field. Which is comforting, because I feel like I know nothing, but I also feel like he knows everything! Haha! He is great though! He is super patient and very kind. You can see by how the people here treat him. They honestly love him so much, everyone does! So, it's nice to be with someone that has the ins here! Oh and he is also our District Leader.

The food! Umm...yeah. We have gotten fed every day, sometimes twice a day, besides Sunday. The hard thing is that they always give us a ton of food! It's always like meat, and then rice. Tons and tons of rice. And I like rice, but I can't eat a ton of it. And it doesn't help that some of the flavors don't agree with my stomach. But that's okay, I'll get used to it. And I felt like I used to be able to eat a ton, but ever since I couldn't eat in the MTC, I am not able to eat as much! I feel so bad, and I don't want to offend any one here because they are all so kind! They do have McDonalds, which surprisingly enough, has made me kind of sick both times we have gone there. They also have KFC. I guess there is a Burger King, two of them, but they are far. Anyway, food will get better, but for now, it is a little rough.

We stay in a flat. Here, when you ask where someone lives you say, "where do you stay?" and an apartment is called a flat. Anyway, they would be really nice, but I think it is a typical missionary apartment. First, there is no front door handle! Haha! It broke before I got here. Also, the whole apartment is infested with cockroaches! It sounds nasty, and it kind of is, but I think the Lord has blessed me not to worry too much about it! They are mostly small, like I thought they were ants when I first got there, but nope, cockroaches. I swear every night they get bigger though! Haha! Anyway, every night we come home and kill as many as we can! I guess the flat has been sprayed twice, but it hasn't really helped! Haha! We are gonna buy some bug killer today. I hope it works. The other part is out bathroom! Haha! I guess Elder Wilkinson's previous companion broke the toilet seat. Anyway, it isn't attached! So nice surprise when it will almost fall off while you are going to the bathroom! Ha, but it is manageable. The last thing is that the ceiling of the bathroom is covered in black mold! It's gross, but it is going to get cleaned well soon. Ha! I am sure that I made it sound super bad,  but it really isn't, it has character!

Our area is huge. It is called Vereeniging. Pronounced Fur-en-uh-h (insert nasty throat sound here) ang. It is a nicer area. It is considered a town. and then there are townships that are the super poor areas. We are in a town though. We also have a car, so we usually drive to where our last appointment stays and then leave the car there and walk during the day. The people, as in the members, are super nice here. It is crazy to see some of the places and things they are living with, but their faith is great! I have met some amazing people, and have felt so much love for each one! There is a mother and son, named Rahlda, and Dimitri. Rahlda got baptized like three weeks ago, and Dimitri has his interview on Saturday. Anyway, we go there a lot. They are amazing! I love them, she's like my mom. There is also a family, I don't remember their surname, but it is our ward mission leader's family. They always want to feed us and give us "cold drink" which is soda. They have a son, named Matthew, he is ten. Great kid. And Lily, the two and a half year old. She is a beautiful child. One of those kids! Haha. She is "colored, which means not black, not white. Anyway, she is adorable! Those are definitely my two favorite families! So far! There are so many more amazing people here!

Africa is great. So much greener than you would have ever thought! It is hot, and pretty humid, but still bearable. I have loved it here so far, it is different, but great!

MTC LIFE

Turner and the MTC bunch

First companions: Elder Rushton and Elder Larsen from California

MTC President and Sister Collins - Turner's group was their first group of missionaries!

Hello from Africa.

It is crazy here. Things have definitely had their ups and downs. Let's be honest, things haven't been easy. Things are hard. Harder than anything I could describe. It isn't hard like school, or work. One of the hardest things is the homesickness. The Learning and teaching is hard, but manageable. It is just hard to know that not only am I not in Utah, or The U.S., or even North America. But I know that my family loves me. And I hope they know that I love them dearly.This computer's enter bar doesn't work, so this is just gonna be one long paragraph! Haha! Anyway. 

The travel here was so long. The worst part was definitely the twelve hour lay over in London. We had nothing to do, and of course I couldn't fall asleep. The London airport is huge. And it is hard to lay down. The chairs all have arm rests, so you can't lay on them, and the floors are all tiled, so you can't lay there either. The nice part was that I got to talk to my parents for a long time! They helped me calm down my worries more than they will ever know! Just to hear their voices. And know that they weren't that far away. 

When we got to the MTC, we had to get right into things. We got to email, we ate, and we had to do some medical stuff, and I had to get two more shots. I was so tired by the end. The MTC is sooo small! There are 21 missionaries. We make up two districts. There are eleven in my district. I am currently in a threesome, with two American elders. It was interesting because we realized that we are the only companionship with all American elders. It is interesting. But nice. One of my companions, Elder Larsen is from California. He is nice, wants to be friends with everyone. My other companion, Elder Rushton, is super nice. He always has candy, and even brought it into the temple! Haha! It was so funny! It was nice to be out of the MTC. We are fenced in and can't leave the gates. We go outside every day for "sport time", and play volleyball. It was fun at first, but isn't anymore. It is hard because all of the Polynesian elders are SUPER competitive. And I always get put on the bad team, so they just trash talk us. It's not too fun. But oh well, at least we get to go outside. The first day we went outside, I kind of had a freak out. It was scary to see the city off in the distance, and know how far away from home I was. But it was okay. I got over it. I have prayed soo hard for help and strength from the Lord. 

Patience is hard, I wanted answers and solutions immediately. However, with time, they came. Things have gotten way better. I am getting used to things. At first, even the food was awful. They all tasted the same. The spices and flavors they use are exactly the same for everything, and I hated it at first. I could only eat like two bites and I would be full. But now, even the food tastes better, which i see as a blessing. It is beautiful here. So green. It's funny though because, they were all introduced into the area. Only one type of tree grows naturally here. But since they introduced the new trees, there are so many kinds. And it is pretty. There are streets that I saw on the way to the temple that remind me of the neighborhoods by Corona Del Mar in Cali. 

We have two different teachers. They are both from South Africa, one is black and one is white, they are both nice. They African people are actually really nice! I play soccer with them some times. Anyway, we teach investigators in these rooms that look like living rooms. The investigators are actually teachers, but we are supposed to pray and study for them like they are real people. At first it was weird, but it honestly brings the spirit so strongly. I love it. The spirit is actually there so strongly. It is the one thing that makes me excited about leaving the MTC, and getting out into the field. Things are hard, but I know that the Lord will help and bless me so much, because I am doing his work. 

Oh and a little side note, I almost forgot to add. They split the leadership responsibilities up into the first half of the MTC stay and the second half, anyway, my companions and I are the district leaders for the second half of our stay. We don't do much, basically just call on people for prayers.  Also, I normally will only have an hour, so this week, the personal emails to everyone will probably be longer today then they will be in general.

Take Care,
Love
Turner