1.24.12
Thank you for writing me and filling me in on all of the family activities and what not. It's always great to hear from you and to know how everyone is doing. I pray for you all and hope that you all are doing what the Lord expects. I'm doing my best to forget about myself and worry more about how I can help others, but I think that has been one of my biggest challenges here on the mission. As human beings we are naturally selfish and want the best for us before we want the better for others who surround us. I am trying my best to learn all I can so that when I get back from the mission I will not be who I was before because frankly I fear becoming who I was. This morning I watched a video/talk of Elder Holland that he gave last January in the MTC and something that really stuck out to me that he said was that when the Lord called me to be a missionary/servant it wasn't just for 24 months, He called me forever. That is my desire, to have my mission mean everything to me so that when it's all said and done, me coming home will be just the beggining. Many say it's almost impossible to do that when you get home, but like you said Mom nothing is impossible with the Lord. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small people who would rather live in the world they've been given than explore the power they have to change it. I've been called not just to change lives, but to change the world.

My companion is leaving the area after 7 months here. He has spent half of his mission here in Santiago Atitlan and is a little sad to leave, but that's part of the mission. Tomorrow I will receive my new companion around 10:30 am and well head back to Atitlan to begin working hard. I'm excited for the months ahead because I know that they will be full of hard work and success. It's nice to get some fresh blood in the area and we'll work hard to raise the bar higher than where we've already raised it. This is going to be a struggle for me with the language because up till now I have been able to look at my companion and rely on him when I don't understand what the people say but now I can't do that. I have to rely 100% on the Lord and I know that He will use me as and instrument in His hands. It's pretty crazy how fast these last 3 months here in Santiago have gone by, but I expect the next few months to go by even faster.

About UVU, thank you for all of your help trying to figure that stuff out. I know it's a hastle, but you are being blessed for it. Once you get the info necessary, just let me know what I need to do to sign up for school, whether it be UVU or a community college and I'll ask permission to do most of that here to give you some slack.

I'm stocked for the boys wrestling, it's great to hear how they are doing. State should be coming up in about 3 weeks or so if I'm not mistaken right? I never heard the results of the tournament in Minnesota. How did it all turn out?

Just to tell you an interesting story, and hopefully I have shared this with you, but if I have, bear with me. So about two weeks ago my companion and I were knocking doors in a small alley type street where we hadn't contacted in my time here and we came to a door where a man who was a bit drunk told us to come in. We entered and got to know him and his family a little and then we began to share the message of the Restoration with him. We did a brief overview and shared the Restoration pamphlet with him telling him that we had much more to share with him and we'd like to come back. He told us that he already had the pamphlet and went to bring it, but he didn't bring back a pamphlet rather he brought back a Gospel Principles book. He began to explain what it was and we told him that we knew and that it was from our church. He said that he bought it in the Capital in the Distribution Center. We went back with him yesterday and saw that he had placed on an altar in his house that same Gospel Principles book on top of his bibles.

Love,
Elder Turner