2 Exchanges + Speaking in Church + Helping at Baptism = Tired Missionaries!

Dearest Family, 

This week has been CRAZY!!! 

Monday night we had dinner with Sister Gore and then the less active members we wanted to see weren't home so we tried some other ones. We visited with Sister Riggs and while we were there it started STORMING! Tons of rain and lightening and thunder! Luckily when we left the rain had let up, but the sky was still flashing and I felt like everything was shaking because of how loud the thunder was!

Tuesday we did service at the library and then taught Joe about church attendance. It was a really good lesson! But he still didn't come to church this Sunday and we don't know why because we haven't been able to get a hold of them. That night we had dinner with the Fish family and Sister Lavin before going to the other Riggs family for a visit. Everyone we saw that day was so talkative! It was hard to keep things centered on Jesus Christ. 

Wednesday was the start of the craziness and it didn't stop until yesterday afternoon. This week we did back to back exchanges with the two sets of sisters up in Wilmington. It was crazy! From Wednesday to Thursday I stayed in Shallotte with Sister Avondet. We had another lesson with Joe that night at the Wood's home. They shared their conversion stories and their testimonies of the Word of Wisdom and gave Joe a couple of things to try instead of coffee. We also had some YELLOW watermelon! It is good!

Thursday morning we went back up to Wilmington to exchange with the second set of sisters. From Thursday to Friday I went to Wilmington with Sister Jones. Both she and Sister Avondet are training new sisters and have a lot of questions. It is weird that I'm the one they ask for advice! I still feel like I've only been out for a few months... but forever at the same time. It's not uncommon to be the "oldest" (in mission life) our of a group of missionaries. I can honestly say that I didn't think this day would ever come!

Exchanges are fun but they are tiring! this time I didn't break anyone's bike or get a sunburn... but Sister Behrmann got 70+ mosquito bites in one hour. Miracles happen! And sometimes they happen in the middle of a field.... where mosquitoes live. But the church is true!

Friday I finally got to be with Sister Behrmann again and we went to visit Sister Coffey and then we worked on our talks for Sacrament meeting. That's right, we had two days to work on our talks because we needed to fill in for someone kinda last minute. 

Saturday we went to the church around 9 and didn't get back until around 2 because there was a baptism for an 8 year old boy in the ward and we had to fill up the font for them. While it was filling we also helped Sister Nagy (Na-j) cut up fruit and get everything ready for lunch afterwards. There was SO much food! I also got to play the piano for the baptism, last minute. It was a great day and no worries, the ward takes care of us! We got sent home with so much food from the baptism!

Sunday we spoke in Sacrament Meeting and then had lunch with the Leggett family. After that we visited Sister Skipper on our way to the Smigiels. We got to hold their cute puppies again! Our lesson went well and hopefully they could feel the spirit too and will be able to come to church next week when she doesn't have to work. 

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I know, y'all are jealous of the cuteness!

Love you!

Sister Shurtz

"Be Thou Humble, and the Lord Thy God Shall Lead Thee by the Hand"

Monday we had our usual preparation day activities and then had dinner with Brother and Sister Cheney and Brother Whitaker. After dinner we went to Walmart to buy Sister Behrmann a box of tissues because she has been having a lot of allergies or a virus or something and her nose was running for the rest of the night. She managed to use the whole box of tissues in 5 days! 

Tuesday we had interviews with President and Sister Bernhisel. It is always so wonderful to get to see them and spend a little bit of time with them. The spirit that they have is so strong that you can't help but feel it. After interviews and district meeting we helped Sister Evans and helped to move some things out of her closet so her daughter can store her wedding dress there. She is also in the ward and is getting married in October. 

After seeing Sister Evans we went to teach Joe. In our lesson he told us that he "could not wrap his head around giving up coffee and tea." So instead of teaching him the lesson we had planned we just read from the Book of Mormon with him. It was a good lesson, but he still isn't committing to anything. 

That night we had dinner with the Babson's and they took us out to Fuzzy Peach (frozen yogurt) afterwards. I know I say this ever week... but I love this family!

Wednesday was a day of phone calls and no one being home... ever. 

On Thursday we had Bishop Fish and the Mintz's come with us to Joe's and they gave him a blessing. It was SO GOOD! I love the Priesthood! The fact that the Lord can speak through men and they can answer questions and promise blessings to a man that they don't know a whole lot about and it fits perfectly with his life and the trials he is facing. After his blessing we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and talked about faith. 

After our lesson Bishop had us over to his house for dinner and then we went to the church to play volleyball. It was fun and I got a really good carpet burn on my knee. 

Friday we had our member who wanted to feed us lunch call us an hour early and say she was already at Waffle House because she was hungry and she read her clock wrong. (When a 90 year old woman calls you and tells you that, you just go along with is and get there as soon as you can!) After lunch we were walking out of Waffle House and started talking to Pat, who works at Waffle House but was outside taking a smoke break. Last time we went to Waffle House we gave him a Book of Mormon. He said he hadn't read but was interested in coming to church. As we were talking, a 18 year old boy, Alex, comes walking out of Waffle House just to talk to us! He said he saw "Jesus Christ" on our name tags and wanted to see what we were all about. We gave him a mormon.org card and Pat invited him to church for us! haha Neither one came this week, but hopefully they will one day. And if our member hadn't gotten there early, we never would have met Alex and we wouldn't have gotten to talk to Pat on his break. Everything happens for a reason! Remember that! 

After lunch we did weekly planning and then had our ward Pioneer Day activity.

Saturday was a crazy day where nothing really worked out the way we planned. We had a lesson set up with Mesha, but she was a no show... for the second time this week. And the computer at the church (which is as old as a dinosaur) is really slow so our Facebook appointment fell through too. But we did get to visit Brother Nemerov! He is doing good, but still has no desire to come to church. 

Sunday we visited a less active, Sister Pollock, and had a really great lesson with her. Then we had dinner and stopped by the Cox family to find that Brother Cox was bitten this week by a brown recluse spider and since had developed staff and then merca. So needless to say, we did not go inside or stay very long. We had a lesson with Brother and Sister Smigiel and talked more about the Book of Mormon and some of their concerns. We also got to hold their new puppies that are smaller than the size of my hand! So cute! 

That wraps up my week. But it is always an adventure! This next week we are doing back to back exchanges with the Sisters up in Wilmington and the week after that we have our meeting up in Raleigh again. Thank y'all so much for all the support and encouragement that you send me and even if I'm terrible at responding or saying "Thank you," that doesn't mean that I don't love and appreciate it. So thank you!

Love,

Sister Shurtz

Angels Are Preparing Hearts!

Last Monday we had a lesson with our new investigator Mesha and it was an amazing way to start off the week! She works at an Inn on Ocean Isle Beach. One day at work a member who was here on vacation shared his testimony with her and she wanted to learn more. We met at the Sanchez's home and had a great lesson about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. I am so excited to keep teaching her and to meet with her this week! One hold up is that she works every Sunday and won't have a Sunday off until the end of September. 

Tuesday we did service at the library and then went to visit Brother Riggs. After that we taught some people on facebook and had dinner with Brother and Sister Jesmer. Brother Jesmer isn't a member and Sister Jesmer is in the Primary. They are so great and so sweet! 

Wednesday morning we had district meeting. After the meeting the Christiansens, from the ward, took us to lunch at a really yummy Italian restaurant. As we were leaving the hostess, Jessica, came up to us and said, "I just want you to know that I felt the spirit of the Lord around you and your booth." Really? How often does that happen!?!?! So we talked to her and set up a time to talk this week. Hopefully things go well!

Thursday was a crazy busy day! We went to lunch with the King's in Calabash before we went to the thrift store there to do service. We didn't teach Brother Evans this week because he hasn't been keeping his commitments and we feel like he l just wants us to come and visit for the social aspect. We told him that we couldn't keep meeting with him unless he started coming to church and reading and praying because our purpose is to help others come unto Christ and strengthen their relationship with Him. So far he hasn't listened. 

In the mean time we have been teaching Joe and he has a problem with giving up coffee, so his date is going to be pushed back a week or two. He also didn't come to church yesterday and we're not sure if it is because of his health problems or because he doesn't want to give up coffee. Hopefully we will be able to get a hold of him today and we have an appointment set up for tomorrow. 

Right after our lesson with Joe we had dinner at the Sanchez's home and while we were there it POURED rain! We needed to leave to get to the church for volleyball that night so we jogged to our car. When I got to the car I had to walk through a puddle that went above my ankles to get into the car! My shoes got a good wash that night! Only the Sanchez's ended up coming to volleyball, but their children brought a couple of non member friends! It was fun and hopefully the kids will be able to come to more activities. 

This week our Bishop and Ward Mission Leader both came back from Utah. So Friday night we had a meeting with Brother Cheney and tried to catch him up on everything that was going on.

Saturday we had lunch with Hazel and then went to visit Sister Evans. We then went an visited Brother King in the nursing home and his wife was there too. It is always great when she is there and they tell us stories about their life and how they joined the church. They are amazing examples for sure!

Sunday we had a less active bring a friend to church and we taught her in Gospel Principles class (which we only have when we have someone to teach because we are the teachers). Her name is Audrey and she said she is interested in learning more about the church, another hopeful appointment for this week!

Sunday night we went to the Smigiels and had a lesson about the Book of Mormon and we were able to answer a lot of questions and clear up a LOT of misconceptions about the church's beliefs. I gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon with Melinda's testimony in it. He took a couple of minutes to try to figure out what your last name was! haha He is one of kind! :)

It is amazing to see the people who are prepared to listen to the gospel! " For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory." (Alma 13:24)

That about wraps up the week. I hope y'all have a great week and that there aren't more fires started! It looks like we're keeping the rain and this week is going to be another wet one. 

Love ya!

Sister Shurtz

 

Sister Behrmann and I on a swing looking at the water!

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This is the cute Christmas house we went in!

 

Rainy and Gloomy in Shallotte

This week has been interesting because they have been repaving the parking lot at our apartment building. It has also been raining for the last 4 days and it's supposed to keep raining for a couple more days! I wish I could send the rain to Washington!

Yesterday Sister Behrmann reminded me of the fact that I only have 4 months left before I'm home. Crazy how fast time flies!

For Preparation day last Monday we went to Southport and did some fun touristy things. Southport is a small town that is known for having some movies filmed there. The movie Safe Haven was filmed there and we saw some of the buildings used in the movie. (Having never seen the movie I didn't know the significance... but one day when I see the movie I will understand) We also saw the light house... from afar. We visited the Christmas House in town as well as some other cute shops. 

Tuesday we planned a lesson we were giving in Zone Training meeting the next day about the importance of the spirit. Then we tried stopping by some former investigators in Shallotte and had a really good talk with Mr. Chapman. He is a math teacher and knows a lot of the LDS families because he has taught their children over the years. He is really nice and we are hoping to be able to stop by in a couple of weeks to talk again. After that we knocked on some doors. One woman opened the door and said "Come on in!" She was an older woman and as we talked her daughter and son came in. They were planning on going to look for some new carpet for the house. We asked if we could share a scripture with them and the son quickly responded, "No thank you Ma'am." He responded the same when we offered a mormon.org card. Needless to say it was just an awkward situation, but we planted a seed! 

After that we went to see Sister Evans, who broke her ankle 6 weeks ago, and visited with her. That night we had dinner with the Granthams. Sister Grantham is a less active member and Brother Grantham isn't a member. They have two adorable German Shepards! They have so many fun stories and it is great to spend some time with them and they always spoil us with good food. 

Wednesday morning we drove to Wilmington for Zone Training meeting. At the meeting we met the new sisters we will be going on exchanges with. Both sets of Sisters are training so we have Sister Jones training Sister Skokos and Sister Avondet is training Sister Bell. Also! There is a new Elder in the zone (Elder Yates) who is from Quincy! 

After the meeting we did service at the Library and then had a lesson with Joe! Joe is amazing! He is still on date for August 23rd and we will be teaching him the Word of Wisdom tomorrow. He didn't make it to church yesterday because he was in the hospital.... pretty good reason to not come if you ask me. But he called to apologize for not coming and explain why. He's just amazing! After our lesson with Joe we tried stopping by the Hooks, a less active couple, and they invited us in and to stay for dinner! We had a good visit and after we visited Sister King who lives just down the road from them. 

Thursday we did service at the thrift store and had a lesson with Brother Evans. We weren't able to find a member to come with us, so we ended up teaching him outside for about an hour. Luckily it wasn't hot that day and the rain held off just long enough for us to teach him. Blessings!!! He said he would come to church... but yesterday he didn't come. We'll see what happened. On our way back to Shallotte we stopped by the Frink family for a visit. Sister Frink was in Young Women's until a couple weeks ago and Brother Frink is less active. We hadn't met him yet so we stopped by. We had a good visit with them and were able to share Ether 12:4 with them about being anchored in Christ and through our faith in Him having hope. After that we went to dinner with the Babson's. They are one of our favorite families! They have such cute children and great stories every time we see them! 

Friday we had planned on doing our weekly planning... and it ended up taking all day because we had a surprise conference call with the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and other set of Sister Leaders that no one thought to inform us of until they realized we weren't on the call. Apparently every Friday morning we will be a part of a conference call with the leaders in the Wilmington Zone. After that we had to figure out what we are going to do about exchanges this transfer with our sisters and how many miles it will take for each exchange and for our monthly meeting in Raleigh. Who thought it would be a good idea to have Sister Leaders in the farthest corner of the mission!?!? Oh well, it'll all work out. We will be using our miles very wisely from now on because it is an extra 500+ miles for exchanges and meetings. Hopefully they will be giving us some more miles, but as of now it looks like we'll probably end up using our bikes a little bit!

Saturday we visited Sister Evans again and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She has such amazing insights and such a strong testimony. I just love her! That night we had dinner with the Apple family again and taught them / had a discussion about the Restoration. It was good, there were a few tangents, but a lot of good comparisons. We were talking about the difference between "reforming" something and "restoring" something and Brother Apple said that if you had a bike and you were going to restore it you would make it look the same as it was originally. You would Keep it "Classy." If you were going to reform it, you would "pimp it out." We all laughed for a while about that one. 

Sunday we had church in our building! We had a really good testimony meeting that we wish Joe and Brother Evans would have been there for. Last night we also had a really good lesson with the Smigiels. Brother Smigiel is a new investigator! We taught the Restoration last night and helped him to understand more about prophets and Joseph Smith and I wish I could have a picture of the face he made when it clicked! He looked at us and said, "I didn't realize he was only 14 years old when this happened." We will be teaching them again next Sunday and hopefully Sister Smigiel will start coming back to church now too!

Miracles happen! Love ya!

Sister Shurtz