This weekend was great. I haven't had a better birthday in all of my life. I surely do appreciate all of the birthday parties that you threw for me, but being in the mission truly comes to show that when you are serving others you are happy. On Saturday I had the idea to buy a bag of suckers and give them away to all the people we visited so that I could share the joy with all of them too. It was great. I saw smiles from many and I know that the Spìrit of the Lord touched their hearts as I did a small guesture for my brothers and sisters here in Santiago. I also got invited to lunch by some of the members here in the branch and it was great to be remebered by those around me. I feel so loved here and I feel like the members are seeing the work that my companion and I are doing and they are starting to be more willing to help us out with visits. On Saturday my companion and I found a family, and in fact it was the first visit we had that day, and as we were getting to know them I found out that their little daughter and I share the same birthday. It was a cool experience and I hope and pray that this coming Sunday they will come to church with us. Also on Saturday my companion and I passed by the lady who always cooks us lunch (my favorite member in Santiago) and she also gave us food and for my birthday she made us Brownies with vanilla ice cream which was soo delicious. I love being a missionary on my birthday because everyone is just so nice.

This weekend was another weekend of miracles! The best part of this weekend was that one of our investigators that we have been working with for about three weeks stopped drinking so that he could come to church on Sunday. My companion and I have been praying for this to happen for about 3 weeks and the miracle finally happened according to the Lord's time. What a blessing it was to be able to see him come to church and although he didn't stay for the whole time he made the effort and he showed up with his wife. I know that this family will enter into the kingdom of God as we work with them to change their lives and repent. I love being a missionary.

This same weekend I also had a nice call to repentance as my companion and I were contacting. I was getting really frustrated and fed up with the people and the excuses they were telling us and I was losing my patience. I was beginning to lose the Spirit. We kept going from door to door rejection after rejection and I was getting irritated and impatient with the people. We knocked a door and a man came out and we began to talk to him and he let us in. I thought to myself that we deserved to be let in and when we walked in the house I saw a woman sitting on the couch with a blank look on her face, I could tell she was sad. I asked the man if that was his wife and he said yes and that she looked sad because she had lost movement on the right side of her face due to a stroke three months previous. I asked the man if he had any kids and he said yes and I asked where they were at the moment because none of them were in the room with us. He responded, "They are resting in peace right now. They all passed away when they were young." I felt tears come to my eyes and a voice came to my head telling me, "You think your patience is wearing thin? This is truly a man whose patience is wearing thin." I felt as though I had committed a serious sin with the amount of guilt I had. We shared about the Plan of Salvation and how these two people could find that love and joy that they have been searching for. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we have. This is the only true and living church! I love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Love,
Elder Turner

I don't know if I'll get everything in this email that I'd like to get due to time, but know that I love you with all of my heart. This last 21 years have been a blast and the future will continue to be a blast. I love being a missionary and Im glad that I'm serving the Lord. While the majority of the missionaries that entered with me (and in the world) are comparing this to the fourth quarter of a football game, we all know that you always let up in the fourth quarter. To me this is over time. It's do or die. I'm going harder than I have ever gone and sharing the gospel with everyone. Obedience brings blessings. Obedience with exactness brings miracles and this past week miracles happened in Santiago Atitlan. The Lord loves those who love Him and I have never felt more loved by the Lord in my life than I do now. The Mission President is asking a lot of us as a mission and we are reaching our goals because we are trying harder. A few weeks ago I said that I felt like I have never contacted more people and had less success, but this week my companion and I contacted more people than I ever have and we had more success that has ever been in Santiago. Miracles are happening. We worked so hard and prayed so hard that we would be able to have 3 baptisms this month, but we didn't have anyone prepared yet, we were just hoping that we would be able to bring a family that we found contacting to church this Sunday. When we passed by they told us they couldn't go. My heart broke. I wanted to just stop in the street cry. I prayed that the Lord would provide a miracle. We got to church and had no investigators and I just felt really down on myself. The meeting began and like normal they asked me to direct the hymns. I stood up in front of the congregation and saw 3 investigators that the missionaries had taught before sitting in the back. How it happened I do not know, but I do know that the Lord provides. He always does.

Happy Birthday Mackenzy!! I know it's late, but I love you and I hope that your birthday was great. Be safe! Riding in the front seat is dangerous :)

Thank you for the package Deb. I've been getting the Dear Elders and the letters, it's just been really hard to get back to you. I don't even find time to write in my journal. They are really apreciated though :) Thanks for the calendar and all the other goodies Mother. I finally got the package that Grandma Bench sent me for Christmas. I don't know what happened, but I got it like 2 weeks ago and it was supposedly here in Guatemala the 21st of December. The apples were a great walk along snack, I really loved them. Thank you all for the love and support. The mission wouldn't be the same without you.

Love,
Elder Turner

I'm blessed to have a mother like you who has taught me the gospel and given me the opportunity to be able to put it in practice. The mission is changing me. I am still your son and I still have natural desires and we all do, but the atonement has taken effect in my life and I have come to realize that I need to work even harder each and every day because there are people here in Santiago and in Guatemala that need me to knock their door and they need me to contact them in the street and they need me to serve them in any way possible so that their eyes will be opened to the gospel. The atonement of Christ is so real and I have felt it in my life. I feel like sometimes when we don't really know what the atonement is rather we just know what it's about, we don't strive enough to bless the lives of others with the restored gospel. I feel like in the past few days I had an awaking to that fact and that I needed to work harder to use the atonement and bless others rather than just try to pay the Lord back.

My companion and I are getting along great and as the days go by we get to know each other better and we grow to our teaching styles and the like. I think that may be one of the most difficult things about getting a new companion, being able to teach in a way that we both work off of each other. As we strive to be obedient the Lord blesses us and we are able to mesh together and become a great companionship. One great thing about getting a new companion is that you can take a look at yourself and see where and what you need to do better. A lot of times we have comapnions so that they can point out the things in us that we need to change and refine so that we can become what Christ expects of us.

This week, Wednesday and Thursday, I had a meeting in the Capital with President Brough and due to the fact that my area is so far away we had to leave on Tuesday and we didn't get back until Friday morning. That really hurt us this week in our area because we didn't get to work for three full days. I was pretty bummed about that, but the meeting was a great meeting and it really helped me to re-evaluate and see where I am and and the things that I need to do better. Lately I have been a little shy and I haven't been opening my mouth as much as I should be, but in this meeting President told us that if we are not opening our mouth and contacting people in the street or knocking doors then we aren't worthy of the Kingdom of God. As strong as that may seem and as much as we may justify why we don't talk to people about the gospel, it's true that we must open our mouths and share the gospel or Christ will take away the blessing He has given us (D&C 60:2-3). I'm grateful to know that the Lord loves me enough to chasten me and to get me back in line. I have never tried harder in my mission to share the gospel than I am now and even though the people can barely understand what I am saying I am trying with all I have to share the truth. It hurts when people say no because you just want them to accept the truth so bad. It's frustrating when you try to speak to someone in their native tongue and they look you in the eyes and tell you they don't understand you. It drives me. I want it so bad and there's nothing that will stop me. I feel bad sometimes because my companion struggles to walk at the same speed but there is no time to waste. This is it.

I'm sorry to hear about Zack and the way sectionals turned out, but all you can do is get back on your feet and keep going at it. I love you Zack, keep your head up and work harder. Next season will be much better if you want it to be.

Love,
Elder Turner