Time Flies in Shallotte!!!

Another week come and gone! I can't believe I only have 7 months left in beautiful North Carolina! Transfers are next week too! We don't know if Sister Bartholomew is going to be staying here or leaving. She has been here for 6 months already. Our district leader is definitely leaving because it's time for him to go home!

Tuesday we taught Ryan about prayer and the importance of scriptures. He's had a lot going on in his life the last week or so, and he is waiting for things to get better. We were able to really talk with him though this week and got to know him a lot better. He likes really odd pets. He has had sharks, eels, lizards, and all sorts of strange fish. I was making a really grossed out face the whole time he was talking. Especially when he was talking about how his lizard was so big it ate his neighbor's cat!

Wednesday we had a great district meeting! After that we had a meeting with our ward missionaries, all two of them! Have a mentioned that I haven't met the ward mission leader yet? He's been in Utah the whole time I've been here! But he comes home this week, so I'll finally get to meet him. After our meeting we did service at the library putting away TONS of kids books. That night we had dinner with Sister Jesmer and her husband who is not a member. They are the sweetest retired couple ever! They live in a very quiet neighborhood and they have a lot of wildlife that comes through their back yard. Deer, birds, alligator, owls, and 3 different kinds of squirrels. 

Thursday we went to Calabash, a small town right on the boarder of South Carolina, to do service in the thrift store. After service we had dinner with Sister Capitano and her family. She is so fun and has two adorable cats... I got my cat fix while I was there. She made pizza which was SO good! 

Friday wasn't too exciting. We did lots and lots of phone calls. Lots of weekly planning. And no one we tried to visit was home. 

Saturday morning we got another media referral! Someone had gone on Mormon.org and ordered a Book of Mormon. We had an 18 year old girl, Angelique, come with us to deliver it and to go visit Brother Nemerov. The man who wanted a Book of Mormon had just written a paper on Mormonism for a seminary class he was taking and he wanted to know a little more about what we believed. He had some very interesting questions! He said he is really busy over the next month, but wants to go on a tour of our church building in June. We hope that it can happen before that! But for now he has a Book of Mormon to read.

We went to see Brother Nemerov and he told us that he enjoys us coming and what's even more is that he said he prayed this week! We could see that he is so much happier, even though he can't see it in himself. We talked about why he decided to join the church and it was a really good opportunity for us to get to know him better and to help him realize that he already knows what he's missing in his life. Can't wait to visit him again.

After Brother Nemerov we went to see our investigator Ronda and talked about the Book of Mormon and the Bible and they showed us their pigs, bees, chickens, and quails. Those hogs stink!!! I never knew how big those hogs can get! They are at least 5 feet long, and 4 feet tall! It was a learning experience for all of us. 

At church on Sunday we were told that we will be getting a new bishop next week. Bishop Carroll has been serving for almost 6 years and has been amazing! Some of our less active members came to church, but none of our investigators. Hopefully they will next week. After church we had a really great visit with a woman who just had her name removed from the church. We were asked to go and visit her and ask her if she wanted her children removed as well, but she said she wanted them to make that choice for themselves. They are super nice and hopefully the family will be coming to a beach party the ward is having in a couple of weeks. 

Well, I think that's everything from this week. The weather is slowly getting warmer and today it is starting to get humid too! Yay for East Coast summers! I am SO blessed though to be in another full time car area!!! I know, I know... I'm so spoiled!

Love y'all so much!

Sister Shurtz

P.S.- Could y'all invite Grandpa over for Mother's Day so I can talk to him too? I sure miss him and feel sad that he couldn't call me on my birthday like he wanted to. And give him a hug and kiss on the cheek for me!

#BecauseofHim

Happy Easter! First thing I want to tell you is that if you have not seen the "Because of Him" website, you should go look at it right now! http://easter.mormon.org/  Especially the video about Christ.

Monday we met with a member and his nonmember wife. We talked about having spiritual gifts. It was a really good reminder for me that we all have individual gifts and talents and that is because we have different things to do in our time here on Earth. It doesn't matter if I'm not very artistic, or if I don't know how to speak a different language. What matters is that I have unique things about me that will help me to be able to accomplish everything that God needs me to. And I know that you all do too. 

Tuesday we did a couple of visits, but at about 4 I got a really bad headache. It came out of nowhere! We spent the rest of the night at home writing on cards, updating the area book, and watching some church history videos. 

Wednesday we had district meeting and Sister Bartholomew and I were asked to teach for about 10 minutes on why using the Book of Mormon is so important in teaching. We started by speaking in different languages for about a minute. I spoke some Norwegian that I had learned from being with Sister Frampton for a week last October. Sister Bartholomew talked in Chinese after that. And then we had an elder read 2 Nephi 31:3 "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understandin." We explained that sometimes people hear our message and it is so foreign to them it is like another language! We then talked about the spirit and how it teaches people according to their understanding. And nothing brings the spirit like reading from the Book of Mormon.

After district meeting we had exchanges with our amazing Sister Leaders, Sister Doty and Sister Ashworth. That night we had dinner with the Woods. Sister Wood is from Scotland and has the most amazing accent! They are so sweet and have an amazing love for the gospel, as so many amazing members here do.

Thursday we had dinner with Sister Lavin. Her daughter's family is also in the ward and were also there. They are the sweetest! They helped us make a card for a woman, Patti, that we have still not met! We filled it with references to our favorite scriptures that brought us comfort. We took it to her house, but she was asleep so she didn't answer the door. We called her a little later to let her know we left the card there, and she was so sad she had missed us. We can't wait to meet her and teach her the gospel! Her health just needs to get better first. And it needs to stop raining because there is a HUGE puddle in front of her house every time it rains because the drainage is messed up. So she can't go anywhere and we have a hard time getting to her when that puddle is there.

Friday we had dinner with Sister Martinez, a less active member, and her extended family. We had very traditional Mexican food, including mole (I guess that's how you spell it?). We read a scripture with her from El Libro De Mormon, but that's about all we did other than eat. It was hard for us to communicate with anyone other than the kids.

Saturday we went to see Brother Nemrov, a very less active member. He reminds me a lot of grandpa! He's about 70 years old and his sense of humor is EXACTLY the same as Papa Joe! We read scriptures with him and invite him to pray and come to church, but he doesn't really want to... yet. We also had dinner with Hazel, the woman from England this week. She made us ribs and mashed potatoes! It was very messy... but so yummy! We also met with another less active member, Sister Grantham. She is a nurse and is so sweet! She also has the CUTEST little German Shepard puppy! It was fun getting to know her and hopefully she can come to church soon.

Sunday, again no one came to church. But we did get to sing in sacrament meeting! We sang with Sister Sanchez "I Heard Him Come." We practiced it once before we sang it, but everyone said it was good. Blessings of the spirit for sure! 

Hope y'all had great a Easter! Love you!

Sister Shurtz

Shallotte Miracles!

So this week has really been an amazing week of miracles!

Miracle #1 - I took a nap on Preparation Day and it was amazing!

Tuesday we had "Fun Zone Conference." For the first half of the day we had our usual meetings but after lunch we all changed into "activity clothes" and we played different sports for about 3 hours! We had about half the mission there playing together. We played Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, Capture the Flag, and Soccer. It was fun but we all definitely got a good work out. Maybe too good of a work out because Sister Bartholomew and I were sore for DAYS! 

Miracle #2- On our way back from Zone Conference we tried to contact a referral, Tavia. We ended up getting a phone number for her from her dad because she wasn't home. Before we could even get off the porch a man named Michael came and started talking to us. His question was, "What are you advocating?" We told him we were there for Tavia and we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We started talking and gave him a Book of Mormon. After a few minutes he handed it back to us and said that someone else would need it more than he would. As hard as we tried, he would NOT take that book from us! As we were about to leave, Tavia came home! We started talking with her as well and we shared a scripture with her, while Michael was standing a few feet away smoking. After we shared the scripture Michael came over and took the Book of Mormon and stuck it in his pocket! He gave us his address and phone number and hopefully we will be able to meet with him this week.

Wednesday we did more service helping to organize and sort through some things for an older couple who are moving to Virginia. 

Miracle #3- We met with Ryan! It has been really, hard because of his work schedule, to find a time that we can meet for a lesson. We had Sister Cheney come with us and we taught him outside in the beautiful sunshine. 

Thursday we did some service at the thrift store and invited a woman who works there, Kathy, to come to church with us. She said she would try to make it and was very happy that we had invited her. We also talked a lot about the organization of the church.

Miracle #4- we have had 3 media referrals in one week! That is something that isn't very common at all! Basically when someone goes on Mormon.org and orders a Book of Mormon or a Bible, we get notified through a text message on our phone that we need deliver a book to the name and address given us. On Thursday we went to deliver a book to a woman named Janet. When we found the house we were immediately greeted by little, yappy, dogs, as per what usually happens in North Carolina. We had a good conversation and talked about how she wanted the Bible for her friend who was going through a hard time. We will be meeting with them this week, hopefully.

Thursday night we had a really Southern meal! We had fried shrimp, hush puppies, and slaw... and it was all SO good!!! Sister Skipper was born and raised here and is very good at cooking all things Southern.

Friday we had lunch with Hazel. She is 82 years old and is originally from England. She is Catholic and is not interested in learning about the church, but loves to feed us! She took us to a Chinese Buffet and we had a really good conversation and meal. That night we went to help set up for a yard sale for the couple who is moving to Virginia. 

Saturday we met with the mother of a less active member of the church and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon with Megan's testimony in it. She loved Megan's testimony and said it was so sweet. 

Miracle #5- That day we also met a man named Gregorio who we should be teaching this week! He was excited about the Book of Mormon, but we have a little bit of a language barrier because his first language is Spanish. Luckily we have amazing members who speak Spanish and are willing to help us teach.

Sunday, no one came to church. But we are holding out hope for next week! It is Easter after all!

Miracle #6 - Last week we gave Patti, a woman who was referred to us a couple of weeks ago, a copy of the Book of Mormon with Jaya's testimony in it. When we went to drop it off she was sick and in bed so we gave the book and treats to her roommate. She called us the next day and told us how much she loved the goodies and how beautiful she thought Jaya's testimony was. She said it really touched her and made her feel so good!  

Thank you so much for all your wonderful testimonies! This week I am especially grateful for Megan and Jaya's because I've seen them touch people and help them to learn more about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. 

Y'all are amazing and I love you so much! Thank you for all the birthday cards!!!

Love,

Sister Shurtz

Zone Meeting, Exchanges, Temple Trip, Conference, and A Birthday... doesn't get much better :)

This week has been crazy busy!

Tuesday we did service most of the day and then had dinner with the Wilson family. Sister Wilson loves to cook creative foods for April Fools! She made a cake out of meatloaf, and the frosting was mashed potatoes. We also had a cup of jello with a straw in it that looked like juice but was too thick to drink! She is amazing :)

Wednesday we had a zone meeting in Wilmington and right after our meeting we had exchanges with our Sister Leaders, Sister Doty and Sister Ashworth. I stayed in Wilmington for the day with Sister Ashworth and the first visit was to a member of the ward who had just had surgery. She is from Escalante, Utah and recognized Grandma and Grandpa's names! After visiting with her we visited a sister who has been known to have bed bugs in the past, so as soon as we were finished visiting her, we went straight to the apartment and changed our clothes. So far so good :) 

Thursday we did weekly planning and had a fun Relief Society activity that night. The theme was "being an 8 cow woman." There were different sisters who presented different ways we could be an 8 cow woman. Things such as finding our creativity and being able to have the spirit as our constant companion.

Friday we spent a LOT of time in the car. We drove 3 hours up to the temple. Luckily our session was at 10:45 so we only needed to leave at 7:00. We had fun driving and even drove through Fuquay! We took pictures of fun things we saw and we ate some snacks we had bought. When we got to the temple we were so excited! We walked into the changing room and there were Sister Moon and Sister Zrubek from Pittsboro! I was so excited to see them! We saw the "new, new" temple film. There are so many people who talk about having a favorite one, but I just love them all! I learn something from all of them... and isn't that the point? To learn something new every time?

On Saturday and Sunday we watched conference and ate dinners and lunches with different members in the ward. Ryan was able to watch the Sunday morning session. It's a little hard to get it out of him what he thought about it. He's pretty shy. But hopefully we will be having a lesson with him tonight and helping him to set a baptismal date.

Because of facebook some of the members here knew it was my birthday, but no one really made a big fuss of it, which I was actually really alright with. :) Thank you everyone for your cards and thank you Renae and Dad for the presents :) Emily Shurtz also sent me an amazing package full of inside jokes and a box of brownie mix. I am so blessed to have the family I have! Y'all are seriously the best!

Hope y'all have a great week and know that I'm praying for you. Love you tons!

Sister Shurtz

 

 

 

Sister Bartholomew and I at the temple.

Pictures with Sister Moon and Sister Zrubek at lunch at Panda Express