Finally in Fuquay - to Stay!

My dear family~

 

Another week come and gone that feels like forever all at the same time! This week we have finally moved into our apartment and it is pretty nice. They just replaced the carpet but it still smells a little funky in some places. Downstairs (yes we have stairs) we have a bedroom (which is our study room), a bathroom, the kitchen and a living room (which has no furniture). Upstairs and we have a bathroom and a bedroom and a storage room. It is so nice to finally be in a place that we have room for our stuff and feel like we can unpack a bit more.

 

We have a baptism this Saturday for our investigator Bobbie. She is in her 50's, African American, and so nice! She likes to learn and definitely takes her time learning and doesn't let anybody push her to do anything. I love her so much and I am so happy that she is going to be baptized and she has definitely been doing things that will help her to make changes in her life and stay converted to the Lord.

Bobbie's Baptism! and Brother Irish who baptized her... I look really bad in that picture... I promise I'm not getting that fat!

Sister Beech and I are still getting along pretty well and I am slowly getting the hang of how things work here. She pushes me to keep running in the morning and I even do some abs after that. Crazy and unlike me I know. haha We have been there to help each other on those days when things come up and it is just a hard day.

We are teaching a really nice couple Brother and Sister Graham. Brother Graham loves Germany and World War II and he looks a bit like Santa Clause. The are in their 50's or 60's. We are also helping them build a shed (which because of the home owners association it has to look basically like a miniature house) and so we do a couple hours of service there every week... mostly painting now. They are very sweet and interested in learning more about what we believe and one of them usually comes to sacrament meeting every Sunday, but they haven't been there together yet. Since Brother Graham loves German, he looked up what "Shurtz" means and apparently it is a "bowman". Good to know right?
 

A miracle from this last week was knocking on a girl's door and she let us come in and teach her the first discussion and agreed to get baptized even! The hard part since then has been trying to keep in touch with her because she has basically disappeared. But she is Bobbie's neighbor and so we aren't giving up on her!

We are also working on a less active man named Brother Williams. He is 72 and has not been active in church since he was about 10. He is finally gaining a testimony and enjoys coming to church and stays all three hours! He even has started home teaching this week as well as helping clean the church building on Saturday morning! It is so great to see the changes in his life and see his testimony grow.

I love being a missionary and I love getting to talk to so many people about the gospel that has shaped me into the person that I am.

God bless you and keep you safe. Don't be afraid to open your mouth and talk to people! Just yesterday Sister Beech and I were talking about how members don't need to know all the answers to the questions... that is why you have gospel resources and the missionaries! All you need to do is be an example, be open about your beliefs, and share your testimony. Let the missionaries, scriptures, and the Spirit answer the questions.

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

P.S. - Eat some raspberries for me! I miss them like crazy!

 

Fuquay-Varina & Sister Beech

My Dearest Family,

 

Thank you so much for the pictures and fun stories of the wedding and all the events. I'm sure you all enjoyed it but are glad the craziness is over. I really enjoyed seeing the pictures with "me" in them too. So great!

I have been transferred to a ward about 30 minutes away from where I was. I am in Fuquay-Varina now which is still in the same stake. The ward just split last week and they have a new bishop and new everything! But the teaching pool here is doing much better than my last area just because there have already been sisters here for two transfers. We have an investigator getting baptized on the 3rd of August and we are teaching at least 5 other people. I am still trying to learn everything and it has been hard, but fun. The ward is great and very helpful.

My companion, Sister Beech, and I actually went on exchanges together the week before we were made companions! She is from Sandy Utah and is from the same ward as Laura Lee (my roommate from freshman year). She has been out for 6 months. She is so sweet, tall (but not as tall as I am), in tune with the spirit and always striving to do what is right. I love working with her. She wants to be a zumba or aerobic instructor... so yeah she likes to run. She is pushing me in the mornings to do some running and so far it hasn't been too bad. haha I am grateful that she is patient with me and isn't trying to kill me by running a lot or anything.

This week has been a little different because we are currently living in an apartment in Raleigh that is 30-40 minutes away from our assigned area. They were living with members before and they just had some things happen that they needed to move out unexpectedly. We are moving again on Friday to an apartment in our area, so that will be good. Less driving time and more teaching time! :)

I love the area I am in and I am just trying to keep my head above water right now with learning all the people we are working with. I love being a missionary and servant of the Lord. Every day I think about how amazing it is that I get to be a part of the missionary force at this time on the Earth.

Keep being great examples and doing what you know you need to do. Help the missionaries out when you can, because having support and help from the members really makes all the difference. I love you so much!

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

2nd Transfer, 2nd Area, 2nd Trainer

Experiencing Life's Speed 'Humps' This Week!

Dear Family,

This week has been a little tougher than the first 5. But know that I'm doing great now!

 

The week started with me being sick on Tuesday... like the worst cold I have ever had! I was having chills and then hot flashes and I was constantly coughing and sneezing and I felt like the room was spinning most of the time. I had to just lay in bed and I slept for about 5 hours in the morning. It was so crazy! I finally was feeling a little better and got up determined to continue on with what needed to be done! It was hard but I made it through the day and now I just have a little bit of a runny nose left.

At Zone Conference on Friday President sat my companion and me down and told us that we were going to be separated this week at transferrs... aka tomorrow. He explained that they were trying to get all the sister leaders to be companions with another sister leader and that is why they wanted to give Sister Brown a different companion. That means I am moving away from Green Level and away from Sister Brown who I love SO much. At first we were both very sad and trying to cope with this because we love being together and we finally understand what we're doing in this area and making some progress!

My thoughts were: "I don't want to leave this ward that I love so much and all the people we are on the verge of teaching! I love the bishop and the youth and the families all so much!" I was in a funk for the next 3 days... just "feeling a little off." I have also been having a little bit of anxiety. It has been so hard! I have been telling myself it is all ok and it all will work out and everything happens for a reason... but it has been tough! Finally, on Saturday night, I just knew that I needed to get a blessing from the bishop (Bishop Bingham who is SO great!). We went over to his home and I explained everything to him and he gave me some great advise and a very powerful blessing. Even then I didn't feel completely better yet. But I now I am feeling good about everything and I know that it will all be alright. Peace is a powerful thing in my life and at times I take it for granted. But know that I am doing MUCH better now. I am even a little excited to go to a new area, which President told me is still close by in the same stake, and meet some more people. The Young Women's president told me yesterday at church that I am being moved because someone needs me more than they do. That brought me a lot of comfort.

Something good from me leaving is that it made the Chinese family, Lifen, Hoa, and Utoh, invite us over last night for dinner! We have spent a few nights with them trying to get them interested in taking the lessons again from us (they were being taught by the elders right before we got here). The mom, Lifen, has been coming to church and she is so nice and I love her and her 10 year old daughter Utoh so much! The father, Hoa (pronounced "how"), is also very nice but not as open as the other two. They had us over and taught us how to make dumplings! It was SO much fun and tasted so good! They were sad I was leaving but told Sister Brown to come back this week with her new companion. They gave me a going away present! They are so nice and they are going to join the church one day... I just know it!

Making Dumplings

Dinner with Lifen, Hoa & Utoh

 

That has been my week... a little crazy I know. But I promise I am doing well and that I am going to keep working hard and doing my best always. I love you so much and I am so happy to hear that the

 

wedding and everything went well! I am sorry I wasn't there... but really I am just so happy for Matt and Heather that I didn't feel sad at all about missing it because I knew they were being sealed in the temple. I love you all so much! Have a great week!

 

 Love,

Sister Shurtz

 

How I will Miss My Sweet Companion!

 

 

 

No Fear!

A Group of New Sisters with their Trainers

Hello my dear family who I love SOOOOOO much!

 

I am so glad that you all get to be together this week to celebrate Matt and Heather's wedding! Crazy that it is already here! I guess time does fly when you are on your mission. It is weird that it is already part way through July... what happened to June? This is my last week of my first transfer... I've been out here for 5 weeks already! Sister Brown and I continue to get along very well! I will be sad when we get split up... but I'm not focusing on that. haha

 

This week we taught a lady named Anuja, from India. Her fiance, also from India, was baptized almost a year ago and now we are working on her... and she said she is definitely interested in learning more... our first investigator! Besides her there is another lady from India, Mabel, and 3 other potentials all from China. Never thought I would get such foreign experience while still in the states!

Wednesday we had Sister Bernhisel come with us to visit our recent convert Karen. We had a powerful lesson on the priesthood and helped her understand how important home teachers are. (especially to a single woman who lives alone). She is more open to the idea now and it is so fun to see her learn and just light up when she hears something that "just makes sense".

Thursday, 4th of July. We had a ward breakfast and met a few non-member friends who came. After that we got to do our weekly planning. It wasn't a very eventful day but we did get to see some fireworks at night outside of our window.

Sister Brown and I Studying

On Friday we did exchanges with some other sisters and I got to be companions with Sister Bartholomew for a day. It was so fun because we were in the same district in the MTC so we already knew each other. We were able to talk about some things that were hard about being a new missionary and about some great things we have learned from our different trainers. Something that I didn't notice until I was with Sister Bartholomew is that I literally have NO fear when it comes to talking to people. I just walk up and knock on the door and go for it! She is taking a little while longer to get used to it and still gets very flustered and she doesn't feel like she really knows what she's doing. I am so happy that Sister Brown just throws me into things and I just go for it and don't look back!

Saturday we spent all day walking, I don't even know how many miles, around different neighborhoods doing some door knocking and visiting lots of names we found in the Area Book . The Area Book is our best friend! We didn't really have a whole lot of success that we can see right now, but we talked with a lot of people, handed out a lot of cards and pamphlets, and planted a lot of seeds. We didn't have a dinner appointment that night so we were just planning on working and eating a late dinner after we walked back home. We happened upon a member's home while we were out and they invited us in for dinner and gave us a ride to the next area we wanted to work in that was a lot closer to home. The family is so nice!

Sunday we had Mabel show up to church again and we set up an appointment for this week to teach her the first lesson. We also received a watermelon, yes a WHOLE watermelon, from a family in the ward who just felt like we might like it. So we got to take that with us to our meetings after church.

Something fun about having your companion be a sister leader is that I get to help teach at Zone Conference this week! Talk about scary!!! I've only been here for a few weeks! I don't know what I'm doing! haha But luckily I will have lots of help. I know Sister Brown won't let me fail.

I do wish I could be home this week to see you all and spend time and celebrate the wedding, but just as most of you said, if I was there then I wouldn't be here. I know this is where I need to be and I am doing what the Lord needs me to do. Please send me some pictures next week!!!

Love,
Sister Shurtz

 

 

 

 


My Bug Spray Broke!



We got Matching Shirts!

Feeling Loved!

Dear Family,

I loved hearing from Dad and Renae about all the missionary activity going on back home. This really is an amazing time in the church and a great time to serve the Lord. I have come to find how important it is that the members and the missionaries trust, love, and support each other. This week has been another crazy week full of tracting, visiting less actives, and part member families. Thursday and Friday we had meetings from 9-3 for new missionaries and for sister leaders (which I am not, but Sister Brown is so I got to go to that one too). I absolutely love President and Sister Bernhisel and know that they are inspired to be in this area at this time.

Saturday we spent tracting and after dinner we stopped by one family that had been investigating the church with the elders who were in this area before but had fallen through the cracks a little bit. First of all... this area is FULL of ASIANS! There are a lot of people who move here from China and India to work for different computer companies. This family, (Lifen - mom, How - dad, Utoh - 10 yr old daughter) has been here for about a year and still have some troubles with english and even believing that there is a God. It is such a challenge! Especially when they ask us questions about tea because that is such a large part of their culture. Fortunately I feel like I was able to help them understand a little bit about the word of wisdom and we also explained what being a missionary is like so they aren't confused anymore about what happened to the elders and where we came from. We invited them to come to church the next day but they didn't sound like they were going to be planning on that.

Sunday was a day full of miracles. Lifen came to church and she loved it! Also, there was a woman who moved here from India two weeks ago to work for a computer company and she said, "I looked out the window of my bedroom and saw this church and I was so happy! I thought, I will go to that church this week" She has never heard of our faith before but she was part of a christian church in India before moving here. She is here completely by herself, no family or friends really. She loved church and asked if she could come back every week. Of course we told her that would be great! We are going to call her later today and set up a time to teach her in a member's home this week. Slowly but surely and through God's mercies and miracles we are finding and helping people to come unto Christ.

Last night on our way home from a member's home we decided to stop by the Smith Family (I don't remember if I've told you anything about them yet). They are an older couple who are less active because he has Parkinson's disease and it is very difficult for him to leave the house. We have stopped by a couple times before now and have met their son (50's and very in active) who lives with them. When we showed up last night their son asked us if someone had called us, we looked at him confused and said no and he informed us that Brother Smith was on hospice and it was close to his time to go. We told Sister Smith we didn't need to stay but she asked us to come and talk in Bob's room because she said it would make him happy to see us. So we stayed for a little while and left a message of hope and peace with them. It was sad to see but I know he has lived a good life and he has a good heart and when he goes, he will return to our father in heaven and they will be together again one day.

 

 

 So that about sums up my week. I love it here so much and I love being a missionary. Time really does fly by and I can't believe it is already July! I love you all so very much and hope all preparations are going well for Matt and Heather's wedding.

Remember to stay strong and to look for those people around you who are being prepared to hear the restored gospel.

 

Love,

Sister Shurtz