July 17

our weeks lately have been challenging but rewarding as well.  we walk like ive never walked before.  i feel like we are pioneers without hand carts or something.  at least its not october yet but the weather is starting to heat up. and even with all this walking my dad bod is hanging around.  elder lewis is inspiring elder fuller and I to workout tho so ill be coming hope with a 6 pack get ready for it.

we found 0 new investigators this week so it looks like more walking coming up but we were able to put a sister we were teaching on a baptismal date:) when you only have a few investigators you get really happy to see them progress

im still getting used to being a district leader but the missionaries in my district who have done that before are giving me good tips and stuff so im learning well.

you should see our combined fridges.  we shopped today and bought probably more food than last time so its a great day to be a missionary in this district.  we are serious about food.  we even bake often.  riley i think you will be proud

this week is zone conference and it sounds like it should be good. there will be lots of role playing which i really dont like but i believe it will be helpful for us.

thats all for me.

 family have fun at the family reunion. wear hats and sunglasses.  i know what its like to not wear them and i dont really recommend it. see ya

Elder Turner

July 10

Im sure this is the toughest area I will have my whole mission.  We walk all day. We have 1 member we can visit, no less active members and when we came in we had 2 investigators to teach so all we do is go looking for people to teach which is a struggle in an area like this.  Nevertheless Im having the most fun Ive have on my mission so far so don’t worry about me.  Elder Lewis and I get excited just to have new contacts to follow up with and potentially teach so we are learning to appreciate the small things.  After all the work this week we were happy to see a sister we are teaching come to church.  We taught a powerful lesson on Friday about the Book of Mormon and then she came to church on Sunday so things are looking good for her.  And she stays in a house with 20 other people and they are all self reliant so there might be some future investigators there as well.

Its amazing to me that its the coldest month of the year and the sun is still too hot.  Its actually cold in the early morning but that doesnt last very long.  If im spending this much time out in the sun in October I might die.  

being a district leader is strange too me.  I never really liked being a leader in anything so Im still getting used to it but I will be soon i think.  It will be good for me.

Mission is good this week.  see ya next week

Elder Turner

 

July 3

Week 2 in Presidential Way has been good.  Im with Elder Lewis now.  hes from Washington State not DC like every malawian thinks.  He likes football and surfing and cool things.  Obedience is key on a mission especially in a difficult area where you rely on the Lord a lot and thats why Im glad im with him right now.  we are able to help each other be obedient.  Its a lot easier to be obedient and optimistic when you have a companion who is doing the same.  I guess thats why we are always told to surround ourselves with good friends.  

Im enjoying my district as well.  the other elders stay next door and we cook together so we brought their fridge into our house and pooled our money and loaded our fridges with food so now we have tons of food and its even healthy.

Our area is difficult and its really big so basically we have spent the whole time walking and facing challenges and rejoicing over the small improvements.  I cant wait to see this area in a few months when it has grown.  i feel like im in a european mission or something with the number of lessons we have been able to teach lately but than can change eventually.

I found out Malawi is the poorest or at some times is the poorest country in the world according to GDP. Being in the richest part of the country makes it not feel that way though.  

june and july are the cold season here and so far it hasnt gotten cold.  its cold in the morning and night but during the day the sun still comes out and roasts me so I dont know what im going to do in october when its hot

Today we went up this clocktower monument and took pictures.  Ill try to send some if my computer doesnt have a virus like last week

Happy Canada Day and Independence Day 🙂

June 26

za bo bo

a lot happened this week so this might be a decent email

im in lilongwe now. my branch is called presidential way branch.  president called on wednesday asking me if he told me i was district leader now but he actually hadnt even told me i was getting transferred to lilongwe so thats when i found out. i think this calling is going to help me a lot.  my companion and I live right next to the other elders in our branch.  its a 4 man district and they are all good elders so it will be fun.  I am supposed to be companions with elder Lewis who is also in Lilongwe right now but he has a big old cyst on his foot thats oozing pus and stuff.  i would send pics if i had some.  its really gross.  he had it operated on and has to go to the hospital every day to check on it.  since hes been unable to work i have been with Elder Lesu from Tanzania for the week.  we will be switching companions tonight tho

my area doesnt feel like malawi to me.  it is a very self reliant area, probably the most in the mission but also one of the toughest areas.  in malawi a lot fewer people speak english. the people that are educated in our area are the rich people. they are the ones we would be able to teach but they are the hardest to meet cuz they are always busy or not interested.  its a really beautiful area because the bwanas (rich people) have nice looking places.  everything is green and there are lots of trees

also theres a lot of azungus (white people) in this area.  malawi is worse off financially as a country compared to zambia is but my area makes me feel like im in a first world country.

when elder lesu and i were walking this week a car pulled over and this lady got out to talk to us.  she was speaking broken english but not because shes from malawi and speaks chichewa, she is from guatemala and speaks spanish.  she told us shes a member and she didnt know where the church was so we showed her and she came to church on sunday.  also she told us all missionaries are hungry and gave us some food she just bought so that was nice

i feel like this email was a lot better than normal so you’re welcome.

c ya

June 19

The reason I didn’t know about transfers last week is because they got pushed to this week.  There was a new elder that came in on tuesday and my companion will be training him so we spent the week as a tri companionship.  His name is Elder Iyoboyi (say it backwards its the same) from Nigeria.  That means I’m getting transferred.  President said he would tell me today and I’m still waiting for the call but I found out I’m going to Lilongwe (Malawi) for sure and I think my new companion will be Elder Lewis.  I haven’t met him but I’ve heard good things about him.  Also I think we will be reopening an area that either doesn’t have missionaries or just had sister missionaries.

I’ll tell you about Malawi next week but from what Ive heard its more like the bush than Lusaka.  Im missing our investiggators baptism next week but Im happy to move.  Ive been in one area a long time.  Today we played rugby and american football.  Everytime we play sports I realize how much out of shape I am so Ill work on that. Ya thats all have a good week

Elder Turner

June 12

transferrs are happening this week but president hasn’t called anyone yet so no one knows where theyre going.  i still think ill be transferred but i dont know where.  this week has been weird.  my best friend from Chainama ward, Brother Sakala, just moved out of the ward with his family and another family we were teaching that we were really close with moved away.  and another great family from my area announced that they will be moving to another ward in the next month or 2.  i guess its time for me to go to.  or ill just have to make more friends in my area.  maybe ill get transferred to where some of these people moved. ill let you know what happens with transfers next week

also i missed church yesterday cuz i was sick.  must have ate something that was bad.  im feeling a lot better today tho.

theres an elder going home tomorrow that was in my district when i got on my mission.  its weird to see other people finish their mission.  apparently there will be a ton of missionaries going home over the next few months with few coming so some areas might have to be closed at some point.

teaching is going ok.  we have one investigator progressing really well.  its funny to see that when we were teaching her family when we got here she would always hide from us but now she is our most serious investigator.  some people change over time because of the example of others so be good examples

June 5

this week was pretty normal i guess.  only new things are that we had a zone activity and i played some basketball for the first time and my companion poured some corn flakes one day and there was a dead cockroach in there so he didnt eat them.

this is proably my last week in Chainama ward so thats pretty sad.  im ready to go to a new area but ill miss some of these people here.

one of our investigators here who is doing really well had a good experience this week.  we taught her the restoration and she said she had prayed but wasnt getting an answer.  then we taught her about the book of mormon and had her read 3 nephi 11 on her own.  she understood it super well and said she believed the book of mormon and restoration to be true after that. good stuff

i guess this week ill find out if im transferred.  im hoping for blantyre, malawi but im ok with anywhere i go, or stay

heres a quote some one once said.  every decision we make is based on how we feel about what we know.

see ya next week