On the Beach with Sister Bartholomew

So my new area is as far away from Pittsboro as you can possibly get and still be in the mission boundaries!!! I am serving in Shallotte, NC which is right on the beach. We are only about 35 miles away from Myrtle Beach, SC, so I feel like this is making up for the trip y'all took without me a few years ago. My new companion is Sister Barholomew and we were actually in the same district in the MTC! She is from Springville, UT. She is a music major at Snow College. And I just LOVE her! It is so fun to get to serve with her. We have had a lot of similar experiences these last few months as we were both training girls who were very similar. She and I are both very alike and I can tell it's going to be an amazing transfer here!

Monday we went up to UNC and saw some of the buildings and had some fun! :) We also did some cleaning and packing and got everything ready to leave the next day. That night we had dinner with Sarah Johnson at the Calhoun's and had our final lesson with her. 

Tuesday morning was filled with more cleaning, packing, getting an oil change in the car, and visiting Sarah Hearn for the last time. It was so sad to leave her!!! She gave both Sister Hunt and I a bracelet to remember her by. Then we drove the hour to Raleigh for the transfer meeting. Sister Bartholomew and I were both so excited to be together! We then drove for 3 hours to our area with an amazing couple, the Mintz's. We got to our apartment around 7:30 and the rest of the night was full of phone calls, unpacking, and planning for the week.... and lots of talking. Sister Bartholomew and I can talk forever if we let ourselves!  

The rest of the week has been mostly visiting less active members. We have one investigator named Ryan and he is really great! I haven't really been able to teach him yet, but I met him at church. The bishop here is amazing and I am so grateful for the chance I have to work with him. He loves missionary work, and he was taught by sister missionaries as a teenager so he has a special place in his heart for sister missionaries and has a strong testimony of the influence we can have. 

It is really weird going to a real building for church again! I'm so not used to it!

I'm guessing that Sarah Johnson got baptized on the 29th... but I haven't heard anything yet. It was sad and stressful to not be there to help plan everything and make sure everything was taken care of, but I know the branch members stepped up to help and Elder Sosa and Elder Park are amazing. 

Saturday we went to KFC for lunch with Sister Coffey. She is so sweet and so caring! After lunch we went with her to visit her husband who is in a nursing home because he was in a bad accident years ago and has a lot of physical challenges. They are so cute together and you can see the love she has for him even though it's hard to spend a lot of time with him and communicate with him. Definitely learned a lesson from her that day.

We have also been doing some service at a thrift store that is run by a member in the ward. We help put things away and make them look nice. It is fun to talk with all the ladies who work there as well and get to share little things about the gospel. 

The Women's broadcast on Saturday night was amazing! All of the messages were so powerful and inspiring. I especially loved listening to President Eyring speak about how we have been prepared for all our trials and challenges before we came here and how important it is for us to help others make it through their trials. 

This Friday we get to go to the temple! It's going to be like I'm home again because it is a 3 hour drive to the temple and then another 3 hours back! Luckily our session isn't too early so we get to leave around 7 in the morning! 

Love you so much! Hope y'all have a great week and happy birthday Aly!!! Can't believe how big all the kids are getting!

My new address is:

Your Favorite Sister Missionary

32 Birch Pond Dr. #4

Shallotte, NC 28470

Love y'all!

Sister Shurtz

Week of Changes

So this week has been crazy and things have been changing all over the place!

Tuesday was deep clean day. Every last Tuesday of a transfer from here on is going to be a day of cleaning. It's good to organize and clean a little bit and I also started packing my bags. That's right it's transfers tomorrow and I will be going to Shallotte which is on the beach! I'm not quite sure who my companion is going to be, but I'm sure I'll love them and love the area.

Wednesday we had district meeting as usual and the Pittsboro elders were going on exchanges with the other set of elders from Chapel Hill. We got all the way back to Pittsboro, a 45 minute drive, to discover that the elder's car keys were with Elder Sosa in Chapel Hill. So we called and we met about half way in between... which added another 45 minutes of driving for the day. It was a fun adventure. That night we went to Sister Hickey's home for dinner and we were able to help her with some little crafts she was making for her classroom. She is a Kindergarten teacher and was making "little monsters" out of pom poms and googly eyes.

Thursday we had dinner with the Smiths and then visited with Sarah Hearn and her neighbor. We told Sarah that I was leaving and she was so sad! We took a picture and told her we would see her on Sunday. Right after getting home from Sarah's, President called us to tell us that we were both leaving Pittsboro and that there won't be enough Sisters this next transfer to have any sisters here. We were both sad and we suddenly had a LOT to figure out and a LOT of people to say goodbye to.

Friday we spent some time with the Moon's and also with Sister Zrubek and her friend Kris. They were all sad to hear that we were leaving! Kris and Sister Zrubek are also determined to find us and take us to lunch sometime.

Saturday was a day of service. The stake here had about 15 or more different service projects for everyone to do and we were signed up to help out at Camp Royal, which is a camp for children with autism. We were put in a group that helped to repaint the kitchen. A few months ago some of the pipes burst and the dry wall had to be completely redone. It was fun especially because we were working with a woman from our branch, Sister Jarmin. After that we helped Josh to load some more wood and had dinner with him at the Moon's. We went outside after dinner for a little while and threw a football around the yard. Needless to say, my shoulder is a little sore.

Sunday was a day full of picture taking! When they announced in Sacrament meeting that we would both be leaving, everyone sighed and looked at us! I think I have never felt so popular in my life as when everyone knows I'm going to be leaving. We got pictures with most of the branch yesterday. After church we went to visit Dawn, Janice, and Sister Butler. We still had not told them that we were leaving. It is so hard to leave all these amazing people! But luckily we have facebook and email and ways we can keep in touch.

Today is bound to be full of cleaning, packing, goodbyes, and also a trip to UNC campus for a couple of more pictures and some fun.

Love y'all! Have a good week!

Sister Shurtz

A Week of Service

Happy Saint Patrick's day! And a very happy birthday to Jaya and Leah! No worries, I remembered to wear green today... did y'all?

 

Last week on preparation day we went around the main street of Pittsboro and looked in some stores and took some fun pictures. Unfortunately a lot of the shops have chosen Monday to be the one day of the week they will be closed so we didn't get to go to some that we wanted to, but still have fun! It was warm and sunny and we both have started on our tans! That night we had dinner with Sarah Hearn and Josh and showed them both how to use the different church websites and the different resources available to them.

 

Tuesday was another beautiful day and we did lots of service. We helped rake leaves at Sister Jefferies' home, and stopped by a few other members and neighbors to offer service. It is amazing how the spirit will lead you! We thought to stop by the home of one sister who is a single mother of 4 children. We showed up and found that she was sick and we were able to help her by folding laundry and playing with the kids a little bit. She was so grateful and we were glad we could be there for a little while to help out when she needed it.
 

Wednesday we had district meeting, which is always a treat! I love our district! Afterwards we did studies and phone calls and taught a few lessons on facebook. That night we met with Sarah Johnson and Brother Fotheringham. As we started the 10 minute drive to Brother Fotheringham's home it started POURING rain like it loves to do in North Carolina. It was the first time I have had the windshield wipers on as fast as they will go and it is still not fast enough to be able to see clearly! Our lesson with Sarah went well and she will be baptized on March 29th!
 

Thursday we ended up doing a lot more service! It was sunny, but not as warm as I would have liked. We helped Josh load up a HUGE tree! I definitely got a work out that day from carrying big pieces of wood for about 3 hours. It went pretty fast though and we made it fun!

 

Friday we were able to meet with Janice and teach her about the Plan of Salvation. She is so amazing and is so great to teach! She has been working hard on making baby blankets, hats, burp cloths, and other things and she went to a market in Raleigh on Saturday to sell them. We helped her pack them up, put price tags on them, and take inventory. Every time we go see her she had some new cute things to show us, but when we were packing them all up we were all amazed at how much she has really done!
 

Saturday we did some more service! This time at the Coopers. They have horses and chickens. We helped to move hay, trim some chicken wings, and clean some saddles. It was so fun to get to know them better and help them with their "spring cleaning." From there we visited Dawn and helped to organize and talked about the importance of studying the scriptures. That night we had the adult session of Stake Conference. Only it wasn't just adults. Everyone 12 and older were invited to come. Most of the talks focused on missionary work and how members and missionaries can and should work together. Sister Hunt and I were called up to the stand with Kendra Moon and she was asked about how she is involved with missionary work. She told everyone that we come over a lot and that we bring different investigators and watch church movies and teach about the gospel.
 

Sunday we had stake conference which was a broadcast from Salt Lake City with Elder Perry. Sarah Hearn was out of town all weekend, but Sarah Johnson came to both sessions and Josh came to sunday's session. After which we went to the Moon's with Josh for lunch and a lesson. We talked about prophets and the organization of the church and then we watched "The Testaments." After that we went to Brother Fotheringham's home for another lesson with Sarah Johnson. We talked about some of the commandments such as the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. The more we meet with her and get to know her, she is more and more amazing. It is such a blessing to see how much the Lord prepares people to hear the gospel and they are so ready to embrace it and run with it.
 

Transfers are coming up next week on the 25th. I've been in Pittsboro for 6 months now and I don't know what is going to happen. I know that it is all in the Lord's hands and that I will go or stay wherever the He needs me to help His children.

 

Have a great week! Find an act of service you can do this week. I know that the more we serve the more blessings and happiness we will receive.
 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

Time Flies!

So first of all I can't believe that Matt's 23rd birthday was yesterday... I still feel like we should both be little kids running together while you steal my toys and make me mad! Boy I'm sure glad we both grew out of that phase!!! Love you Matt and Happy Birthday! I couldn't wish for a better older brother!

 

The start of this week was cold, gloomy, rainy, and icy. We spent most of Preparation Day inside staying warm and dry while cleaning and doing laundry.
 

Tuesday we made Tamales with Sister Zrubek. She is so amazing! We love spending time with her. Unfortunately Sister Hunt and I forgot to take pictures! :( After that Josh called us and asked if we had anyone he could go serve! So we all went over to Sarah Hearn's and did some yard work. Raking leaves here is a year round chore with all these trees! Right after that we went to a lesson with a new investigator, also named Sarah! Sarah Johnson has been coming to church for the past month now with a friend and is already through Alma in the Book of Mormon. We had our first lesson on Tuesday about the Restoration and she committed to pray about being baptized. We met with her again on Saturday at the Branch President's home and taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she wants to be baptized! Right now her date is for March 29th. She is absolutely amazing! She is from California and she's a lawyer at UNC Hospital.
 

Wednesday we had a zone meeting that was SO good! To be honest it is hard for me to do role plays most of the time. Role plays are when you pair up with another set of missionaries and one set of missionaries pretends to be someone they are teaching while the other set teaches them something about the church. So usually they are not my favorite, but all the role plays we did this week were a lot of fun! We practiced a lot about how to deal with distractions while we are teaching. My favorite role play was when there was a set of elders practicing teaching me and Sister Hunt was in charge of being the distractions. So first she was a television, and then a radio, and then some kids playing outside, and then the phone rang, and then she knocked on the door trying to sell some girl scout cookies, and then she was a dog. We all decided she was the most creative distraction ever! It was a lot of fun and a learning experience for all of us.

 

Thursday was our planning day. It was also the day the bugs started to appear! As we were sitting at the table in our apartment planning, suddenly Sister Hunt looks right above my head and just freezes! She finally says, "look behind you." But I knew that the wall was only a good 6 inches to a foot behind me, so I slowly stood up and walked away to turn around and see a lovely cock roach about 2 inches long, VERY close to where my head had been. After that we went a little crazy and started scrubbing and cleaning everything we could. But the bugs keep on trying to sneak up behind me! It has happened 4 times now in the last 5 days! And it always happens to me and Sister Hunt always sees them! Luckily though she warns me every time and then we take care of it.
 

Friday we visited with Sarah Hearn and the weather was absolutely crazy so all our other appointments canceled. Pittsboro was about 34 all day and rainy, but there was a line a few miles north of Pittsboro where the temperature was just below freezing, so all the rain would freeze and there were trees down everywhere and power outages for days! We are so lucky that we didn't get hit with the storm!

 

Saturday was a packed day of visits. We saw Sarah Johnson like I already told you. And then we went to visit Janice. We helped her put together some new little book shelves while we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and about Joseph Smith. She is so much more open to accepting the gospel now instead of just merely being curious about it. She still doesn't like to be pushed, so we take it slow, but she is amazing. That night we called Josh to find out that he has been telling everyone that the church has been restored! He has also been living the standards of the church even when put into situation where it would be really easy not to. He is so great and hopefully this week we will be able to figure out a baptismal date for him.
 

Yesterday it was SUNNY and about 65 outside! It was perfect! We had a lesson with Josh that went really well, and then he introduced us to a woman who is about 90 years old. Her name is Anjanette and she is a character! She wasn't very interested in learning more about our church but we left her with some pamphlets and she said she would read them and then probably give us a call. She is a lot of fun to talk to! After that we had dinner at the Spencer's home. Dinner is always SO good there and their family is so great!
 

Today should be just as beautiful and warm so we are hoping to go look in some of the little shops on main street. Hopefully Sarah Hearn will be coming with us because she wanted to go to a couple of them too. Tonight we will have dinner with her and Josh is coming as well. She says we are like daughters to her now and Sister Hunt and I feel the same way.

 

Everything is great here in Pittsboro... besides the bugs! Always remember to smile :)

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

Sarah's Baptism!!!

Sarah was Baptized this Week!

 

A week or two ago Renae asked me about Sharon who was going to get baptized a few months ago in Fuquay. She hasn't been baptized yet and I just found out that a month or so ago she had a stroke and is now in a rehabilitation center.

So this week has been a little crazy making sure we have everything planned out for Sarah's baptism on Saturday. But we were able to get everything worked out and it was an amazing afternoon.
 

So on Monday was had dinner with the Oakley family and they had invited their neighbor, Derek, over as well. We were able to share a message about God's love and we all went around the table and gave one reason that we know God loves us. Some of the children said things like "food,"  "family," and "nature." When it was Derek's turn he said, "because He tells us in the scriptures." I think we were all a little taken aback by his reply and the faith you could feel he has in the Bible. But it is so true! Everything around us is evidence of God's love, but we also have His words telling us of His love. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoso believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Tuesday night we had a Relief Society activity where we learned to make tamales! We have a few Hispanic families in the branch and Sister Perez was asked to teach us how to make tamales. There is a language barrier between the Spanish speakers and the other sisters, because not everyone knows Spanish. Luckily there are a few women who served Spanish speaking missions and we also have a bilingual sister from Colombia, Sister Hickey, who can translate for us. We had a lot of fun learning to make them and they are SO good! Sarah came to the activity as well! It is like she has always been a part of the Relief Society and before she left she made sure to tell everyone about her baptism that was coming up. She's just the best! Just as we were about finishing up eating, the Elders showed up! They claimed that they needed something out from the library, but I think they really were just hoping we would feed them some tamales, and they definitely got fed! Elder Sosa and Elder Park and great Elders to work with. They have a love for the people and a love for the work.
 

Wednesday we had interviews with President and Sister Bernhisel. It is always great to talk to these amazing leaders and find ways that I can improve and to see how I have already changed over the last 9 months I have been in North Carolina. Something that hasn't changed though is my favorite scripture! Alma 26:11-12 "But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." I have seen this over and over again in my life. I am so weak, but I know that I can do anything and everything that God needs me to do as long as I trust in Him and follow what he tells me to do.
 

Thursday we had a visit with the Snows. They are couple who's children are gown and they do not come to church because of health reasons. We had a great visit, but Sister Hunt and I are a little more nervous for summer. They told us a lot about the bugs, mosquitoes, ticks, spiders, and cockroaches. I think I was very very lucky this last summer to be in a place that isn't quite so "country" as we call it. We learned lots of tips about how to keep things out of your house, like putting borax in all the cracks around your house and it will kill all the spiders and cockroaches. Needless to say, Sister Hunt and I are both buying a box of borax today to see if it will help.
 

Friday we had Josh over to the Binghams for dinner. The next day he came to Sarah's baptism, and then to the Moon's house right after for pizza and a movie. We watched Legacy and Johny Lingo. And then Sunday night Josh came to the Smith's home for dinner and a lesson. Basically he's been in a lot of homes and has been able to feel the spirit in all of their homes.

I Just LOVE Sarah!

 

Saturday was Sarah's day! Sadly, Sarah's son Jason wasn't able to attend because of work, but she had some other family members, including her daughter, come and support her. We also had a lot of people from the Pittsboro Branch come in support. I ended up playing the piano because the two people in the branch who play the piano weren't able to make it and the songs that Sarah wanted weren't the easiest for me to play, but it all worked out in the end. It was an amazing day and Sarah had lots of love and support from everyone there. Sarah is just amazing and is going to do so much good here in the Pittsboro Branch.

 

I love this gospel and I love the happiness and the blessings it brings! Have a great week!
 

Love,
Sister Shurtz



Sister Hunt and I Have a Lot of Fun with Sarah!

Sarah Thinks I'm a Bit Tall for Her!