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