The Adventures of Sister Leaders in Training

This week has been draining, but so great at the same time!

Monday night we had dinner and Family Home Evening with the Sanchez family. We taught them about obedience (because Sister Sanchez said they needed a little help with remembering to listen to their parents). We taught them why it was important and then we played Simon Says. 

Tuesday we got a surprise package in the mail! It was a new phone!!! (no it's not an iPhone) We were so excited because the phone we have been using was old and it would freeze on us and just never work quite right. We spent an hour making phone calls and getting the new phone all set up. After that we did a deep clean of our apartment. 

That afternoon we had a lesson with Sister Regina Evans (who broke her ankle a few weeks ago). She has asked us to come and visit her and teach her the lessons so we get practice and so she doesn't go crazy sitting there all day alone. She has amazing faith and such a strong testimony. No matter what problems she has faced in life she always looks at it as an opportunity to grow. She has been mostly blind her whole life, defeated breast cancer, and now has a shattered ankle and will have lots of physical therapy to do to get back to normal. She is an inspiration to me!

Wednesday we taught in District Meeting and then went to lunch at a really good little cafe/bakery here called The Purple Onion. They have really yummy food! After lunch we went to Joe's and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committed him to a baptismal date in August. He is so amazing and we love him! He didn't come to church this week... but that's a whole different story that I'll get to in a little bit. 

After our lesson with Joe we had dinner with Sister Wilson and her friend Lindsey. She asked us a lot of really good questions about the church and we were able to help her see how the Book of Mormon and the Bible go together and both teach and testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We read Luke 22:41-44 and Alma 7:11-12. 

Thursday we had a lesson with Brother Evans after doing service at the thrift store. We had Sister Capitano come with us and we taught him the end of the Plan of Salvation. It has taken us 5 lessons to make it all the way through so we also did some recap using the amazing cut outs that Renae sent me last year. Thanks again! Those have really come in handy over the last year! 

Because Sister Behrmann and I are Sister Leaders now we had a meeting to go to up in Raleigh on Frieday. So after our lesson we drove to our apartment and picked up our overnight bags and threw them in the car to rush to dinner and then rush to Fayettville (a two hour drive and where Sister Berhmann was before she came to Shallotte). We spent the night with the 1st ward sisters there (Sister Draper and Sister Fullmer) and then woke up early and drove the last hour and a half to Raleigh for our meeting that started at 8:30 in the morning. Needless to say we were all very tired but the Combined Missionary Leadership Council (CMLC) was amazing! We talked a lot about how to follow the spirit and how important this work is. This gospel is the only way to have the peace and guidance that we need in this life and as missionaries it is our responsibility and our duty to share that message with everyone 24/7! 

After the meeting we drove back to Fayettville for dinner with a sister there that Sister Berhmann knows and she took us to a Greek restaurant. After dinner we drove the remaining two hours back home to Shallotte. After getting unpacked and planning for the next day we went to bed and we slept really good! We were so tired that I don't think anything could have woken us up except for the alarm at 6:30. And even then it took a few minutes to wake up. 

Saturday we did weekly planning and made a LOT of phone calls because our ward didn't have church this Sunday and we were asked to tell people about it. The chapel PA system is under construction and it was supposed to be done by Sunday but it wasn't. So we got to go to the Southport branch for church yesterday, which is why Joe wasn't able to make it. It is an hour drive and he had some medical things going on that morning.

It has been a great week! I am so blessed and so happy to be a missionary serving the Lord! I know that the gospel is true and that the Savior lives and loves us. 

Love,

Sister Shurtz

I Have a Dream...That One Day I Will Not Itch!

This week has been a little slow because both Sister Behrmann and I have been having some health problems. She has been battling a bad cold all week and I have broken out in eczema all over my arms and legs. We went to see a doctor and they told us what we needed to do. So we've been taking Benadryl and all sorts of other things to try to help us get better. I've been slathering lotion on several times a day to give me a little break from itching. Basically it's like being covered in super tiny mosquito bites. So right now my dream is to stop itching one day and to not be covered in bumps. 

That being said, we spent Monday night at home, and Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Benadryl knocks you out!!!!! We slept for about 3 hours at a time. Luckily after that we felt good enough to get out of the apartment and teach a couple of lessons. 

This Thursday we taught Brother Evans about the Atonement. We had Sister Strickland come with us and it was perfect! She shared her testimony about how learning about the gospel and being baptized helped her to learn to forgive others and to find the peace that she was missing in her life. She was baptized when she was 68  years old. She looked at Brother Evans, who is 71 years old, and said that it is never too late to change and come unto Christ. Unfortunately he didn't come to church again this week. We're not giving up hope on him yet! Sometimes it just takes a little bit longer. You can see the spirit working on him and he is getting more happy every time we meet.

That night we had dinner with the Babson family. They have 4 children, ages 12, 7, 5, and 1. They are all so cute! She is the Young Women's president in the ward and he is in the new bishopric. All the families here are just so amazing!

Friday we did planning and then went to the doctor again because my arms were swollen and not doing very good. Another trip to the pharmacy and now it seems to be under control and hopefully will be better by the end of the week. We had dinner with the Fish family up at their farm. They are another amazing family! He is the new bishop and she is in the Relief Society Presidency. I just can't begin to tell you how much I love the Shallotte ward. All of the areas I have served in are just amazing and have the greatest people!

That night we went with Sister Cheney to teach Joe. We taught him the Restoration again using as many visuals as we could find. We watched the video about Joseph Smith's experience in the Sacred Grove and compared the church to a pyramid of cups that falls when you remove the bottom layer, which is Jesus Christ and his apostles. It helped him to understand it more and he even came to church this week! He was all clean shaven and dressed up. Can't wait to meet with him again this week and see his understanding grow and the spirit touch his life.

As far as all of our other investigators.... they have been hiding from us. Ryan hasn't talked to us in a couple of weeks. Micheal moved in with his girlfriend and she is a little iffy on us coming over. Sister Wright told us she doesn't want to join our church. Matt and Tiffany are too busy right now. But our less active members are more open with us and we are visiting with more of them on a regular basis. 

Yesterday at church we were asked to play the piano for primary... and if they hadn't asked us to do that we would have ended up helping out with Young Women's or teaching Relief Society. It is fun being in a small ward that needs all the help from you that you can give! After church we went to a fish fry at the Leggetts home and visited some less active members. The life of a missionary is stressful sometimes... but it is always worth it! The Lord lives. He loves us. He will always guide us. 

Have a great week y'all! 

Love,

Sister Shurtz

Biking, Spiders and Piano

This has been one of the longest weeks of my mission life and also one of the most productive!

Monday night we had a lesson with our new investigator Joe. He wanted us to teach him out on the porch instead of inside his house so sat outside with Sister Ruth and Joe and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. We were so blessed to teach him the lesson and not get one single bug bite and we didn't even have spray on! It was a miracle for sure! 

Tuesday we left early in the morning to drive up to Wilmington for Zone Conference. We had a great meeting, in which I played the piano for the opening and closing songs. After the meeting President asked to talk to Sister Behrmann and I. He informed us that we would be staying together for another transfer (which means we'll be together and in Shallotte at least until the middle of September) and that he wants us to be the Sister Trainer Leaders for the Southern half of the Wilmington Zone. As a Sister Leader we will be in charge of scheduling and conducting exchanges with two other sets of Sister Missionaries. We will also have a monthly meeting to go to in Raleigh (3 hours away from here). And we will teach once or twice a month in meetings. 

After the meeting we went on exchanges! I stayed in Wilmington with Sister Ashworth. We had a LOT of adventures. We taught a new investigator who just got out of jail the week before. We went to a less active's home they haven't been able to see for a month. In 90+ degree weather and 1,000% humidity we went biking for a couple of hours. The road we needed to go down didn't have sidewalks all the way... so we did some off roading in the grass and sand and rocks. When we made it to the house we had our appointment at and we were both just dripping sweat! On the way back we made it like, 1/4 of the way home and the tire on the bike I was riding... which was Sister Avondet's bike... popped! The front tire was completely flat! I felt so bad and offered to pay to fix it, but she won't let me. Did I mention that Sister Avondet is around 5 feet tall and her bike is little? It was fun to ride next to a really busy street! And to top it all off, I got a REALLY good sunburn on the back of my neck. Being a missionary is the BEST!

Thursday we did service at the thrift store and then went to teach Brother Evans. Unfortunately our member who was going to come with us got sick so we just sat outside for a little bit with him. That night we had a lesson with Joe and taught him about the Restoration. It was really good and hopefully he will be able to make it to church next week! 

Friday we had a meeting with Bishop Fish because our ward mission leader, Brother Cheney, is out of town. It was so great! Bishop Fish is so dedicated and so on FIRE! It's so fun working with him. 

Saturday morning we got to the church at about 8:00 to fill up the font for a baptism the South Port Elders were having in our building at 10:30. We got there and found about 5 dead spiders in the font and one live one. After taking care of all those little friends. We turned on the water. After about 30 minutes we came back and it was about 1/2 full. And right on the top was a HUGE spider just swimming around. We used a really long pole and a cup to get the spider out and finally got the font filled and it was even warm! 

After the font was filled the Elders asked me if I could play the piano because they didn't have anyone to play. They told me the songs so I practiced and felt like I was ready to play. The first song went well! There was a special musical number right before the actual baptism and so Sister Behrmann and I decided to skip out on that so we could check for more spiders. After we checked the font and found no more friends we were relieved! Until Brother Leggett came and told me that they needed me to play for the special musical number! I sat down at the piano and opened up the song the children were singing and found that I have NEVER played that song before and there were 3 flats! YIKES!!!! Somehow (blessings) I stumbled my way through it all. 

I think that covers all the stressful moments from the baptism. 

Sunday morning we show up to church and Bishop comes walking up and says, "Shurtz! It was meant to be that I found out yesterday that you play the piano. Brother Cook Jr. is sick and Judy is out of town. You're up!" So I got to play last minute for Sacrament meeting! 

I would like to take a second to thank Sister Bowen and Jill for being such wonderful piano teachers and helping me to be able to play hymns and sight read so well! Love you and I'm so sorry for all the grief I gave you when I didn't practice!

I love y'all and I love this gospel. I love our Savior and I know that He loves us. 

 

Sister Shurtz

The Beach, Hurricane Arthur and 4th of July

Before y'all start worrying about how I'm doing because of the Hurricane that happened this last week, I thought I would share a picture with y'all that shows the extent of the damage we had here in Shallotte, NC.

That's right. We had a lot of rain and enough wind to knock over a chair or two. We were advised by President Bernhisel to stay inside and not go out because some areas would get harder, so we did our weekly planning, took a nap, made some phone calls, made a scripture case for Sister Behrmann, cleaned, organized, wrote in journals, put people in the GPS, and made area lists for where all of our members live. It was a good and productive day, while still relaxing.

We watched some "mormon messages" (http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages) while we ate dinner. During that time we missed a text message from our District Leader asking if we were alright because some other missionaries in the Zone had lost service to their phones. We texted them back as soon as we saw the message, but it was too late. The Zone Leaders called us to ask if we were alright! They said that President Bernhisel was sending out an email to all the parents to let them know that we were safe.... so they needed to know that we were still safe! As soon as we got off the phone we imagined the email saying, "All of our missionaries are safe, except for the two sisters serving in Shallotte. They are MIA." 

As for the rest of the week nothing super big happened, mostly just small tender mercies. :)

Monday night we had dinner with the Cheneys. Brother Cheney left the next morning to go to Utah for another month to help his daughters with some stuff. It's not as fun to be here without Brother Cheney!!! 

Tuesday we had lunch with Hazel after we vacuumed her floors. And that night we had a lesson with Brother Nemerov after having dinner with Sister Capitano. I love all the people here! It is crazy for me to think sometimes that I wouldn't know all these people if I hadn't come on a mission. The Lord really does know what is best for us and He will put us where we need to be.

Wednesday we were going to go on exchanges after a Zone Meeting, but because of the hurricane that was coming the next day we decided to cancel it and change it to be next week. 

It seems like no matter what we planned this week and who we were going to try to see that nothing quite worked out except for our lesson with Brother Evans. We had a REALLY good lesson with him on Friday and he is slowly progressing. 

Saturday we visited with a couple of less active families and had dinner with the Apple family. They are a LOT of fun! They have 4 daughters, ages 10-18. They have really strong accents and they have a lot of animals. They have ducks, chickens, pigs, turtles, a cat and a dog. 

Sunday we tried a LOT of houses... and talked to no one. But we had dinner with the Sanchez family and it was SO GOOD! After dinner we held their adorable puppies.......

......and then went to see Brother Neverov again. It was a GOOD lesson. You can see the wheels turning in his head and he gets it! But he keeps saying, "I'm never coming back to church." Never say never my friend! :)

I don't remember if I've told you this or not, but Brother Williams (the 72 year old less active from Fuquay) received the Melchizedek Priesthood a couple of months ago and is working on going to the temple soon. Never give up on ANYONE!!!! 

Love y'all! Have a good and safe week!

Sister Shurtz