Another Week in Pittsboro :)

Monday we had a great preparation day and we were able to help the Zrubek family practice for their daughters' baptism. Amanda just turned 8 and Anna is 10. Anna has Autism which is why she wasn't baptized when she turned 8. Yesterday they were both able to be baptized together and it was very sweet to be able to be there and see their sweet faces. I LOVE the Zrubek family!

 

Tuesday we did exchanges with our Sister Leaders, Sister Wilde and Sister Merrill. I stayed in Pittsboro with Sister Wilde and we had a really good day. MIRACLE!!! We saw Christina! We invited her to our Branch activity on Saturday night, but she ended up not being able to make it. But we still saw her and talked to her and have hopes of meeting with her again soon! :)

 

Wednesday we had District Meeting and that evening Sarah had her baptismal interview! We've been struggling ALL week to get a hold of someone to check if the Stake Center is available on March 1st (because we don't have a font here in our makeshift building here in Pittsboro). It has been kinda frustrating to get everything cleared and set up. Sunday morning we found out that there is a Regional Pinewood Derby scheduled all day on the 1st. Those two environments, a Pinewood Derby and a Baptism, aren't the most conducive to one another. Sunday night we found out that a member in our branch, who is also serving on the High Council is in charge of the derby and he guaranteed us that they would be out of there by 1PM at the latest, so we get to have Sarah's baptism on the day and at the time that we had originally wanted! Tender Mercy! <3

 

Thursday we did some service and did planning for the week. We also had dinner with the Smiths, a new family who just moved here from Utah. Josh was supposed to be joining us, but he ended up working until we were leaving and we were able to meet with him separately for a little while before heading home. Josh is so sincere and so ready for this gospel. He loves it and he can see the difference it makes. He loves the Book of Mormon and he came to church again this week! Everyone loves him and is so happy to have him there!
 

Friday night we had dinner at Sarah's and met her son Jason. He is 32 years old and just moved back home for a little while. He was not the most thrilled to hear his mother was getting baptized into "that Mormon Church". We had a good conversation about it though and we were able to clarify some misconceptions that many people have thanks to television programs such as Sister Wives. He came to church this Sunday, but didn't feel the most welcome or the most comfortable because of his tattoos and things. Hopefully he will be able to see the happiness that his mother has and will see through her example how amazing the gospel is and how much it can bless his life too.

Saturday was a day full of service. We started out by doing some service for Josh and then Josh came with us to do some service to Sarah. It was a beautiful day that got up into the 60's. After all our service and things we had our Branch activity that was a international food night while watching the Olympic Men's Hockey game.... but honestly, no one really watched the game and we all socialized and had a great time as a branch. We're definitely outgrowing our little building and can't wait for this area to have it's own real church building!

 

I love the Pittsboro Branch so much! The people here are so amazing and so full of love for one another! Part of me never wants to leave! Hope y'all have a great week!

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

Valentine's Day - A Snow "Storm"

As a speaker in Sacrament Meeting said yesterday, "To those of you from North Carolina, I'm glad to see you survived the 'storm.' And to those of you from the North or the West where it snows a lot, I hope you enjoyed your 'normal winter day'. We got about 5 or 6 inches of snow this week! North Carolina and snow don't mix very well...

Monday we had a good relaxing Preparation Day and then we had Family Home Evening with the Burgon family. They have a little boy named John Bradley who is about 3 years old and adorable!
 

Tuesday it was really cold because it was the day before the "snow storm" hit. We taught a few lessons and did lots of planning for some upcoming lessons with Sarah and Josh. Sister Hunt and I talked about Josh a lot and we have both prayed and strongly felt like he really needs to keep coming to the Pittsboro branch and not be sent to the Chapel Hill Elders. So for now we are going to keep teaching him until the Spirit tells us otherwise. That night we visited with Sister Butler and helped her to find ways to remember to read her scriptures every day. I love her so much!

 

Wednesday we went to District Meeting up in Chapel Hill (a 40 minute drive each way) and on our way back it started to snow. We had an inch in the church parking lot when we got there. So we had a snow ball fight with Elder Sosa and Elder Park. Poor Elder Sosa was so cold because he is from Honduras and not used to playing in snow, especially without gloves or other warm clothing. Elder Park is from Salt Lake though, so we all had a lot of fun. Because of the snow however, we stayed in our apartment for the rest of the day. We got a voice mail from President Bernhisel that told us to stay inside for the rest of the day and tomorrow to see how is was and use our best judgement. He then quoted Jacob 6:5, "O be wise; what can I say more?"

 

Thursday it snowed a little more in the morning and overall we got about 5 or 6 inches total. Which means that absolutely EVERYTHING was closed. Walmart, restaurants, grocery stores, everything! The schools were closed the rest of the week and today, a holiday they would usually have off, is spent in school as a make up day. North Carolina doesn't handle snow well. haha So that day we went to the Moon's to borrow some snow shovels so we could do some service and we ended up helping them make cookies and helping them shovel the rest of their driveway. When we got home from their house we found the flowers that Dad and Renae had sent me for Valentine's Day. Thank you!!! They are beautiful!
 

Friday walked around a lot in the morning and did some tracting and found an assisted living home to go do some service at. We are really excited to be able to do that sometime soon. That afternoon we went to visit with Dawn and we took her some of the flowers that Dad and Renae sent me and we took them to her to brighten up her day. She loved them! After visiting with her we rushed back to the Moon's again because they had signed up to feed us dinner. They had also invited Sarah, but Sarah spent most of her week with her daughter who was in the hospital with a blood clot in her lung. So it was just us and the Moons again and we had a great time as always.
 

Saturday was a little hectic as some of our plans fell through and we tried to find a member to come with us to help Josh move a little bit of his stuff and to teach him about the Restoration. We were able to find a member, Sister Smith, and she came with us and spent a few hours helping load and unload things and then teach Josh about the Restoration. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and the Bible every day since we gave him one and he wants to get baptized! We don't have a date set yet, but he has the desire and he is excited for it. After our lesson with Josh we went and shoveled Dawn's walk way for her and then stopped by to visit Janice for a few minutes. It was a busy and productive day.

 

Sunday Josh wasn't able to come to church because he had a really bad headache and didn't feel like he could drive. Sarah and Janice were both able to make it to church and we had amazing speakers in Sacrament Meeting and a great lesson on service in Sunday School and a lesson on families in Relief Society. We also had a member bring a friend to church and she wants to come back next week too. It was an amazing day at church! After church we were able to have Josh over to the Moon's. (Yes we spent a lot of time with them this week!) Josh came over and we had a lesson about Joseph Smith and watched the Restoration video. It was so nice outside that we decided to go out for a little while after the lesson and it turned into a snowball fight with the little snow that remained from Wednesday. After Josh's lesson we ran over to Sarah's and went over the baptismal interview questions with her and set up her interview for this Wednesday afternoon. She is so ready and so excited!
 

This week we are going on exchanges again and we are looking forward to another really busy weekend with lots of church activities and a baptism for two girls in the ward. This gospel is true and it brings so many blessings!!!

"When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
 

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your blessings;

See what God hath done.

Count your blessings;

Name them one by one.

Count your many blessings;

See what God hath done"

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

Miracles Happening in Pittsboro!

This week has been a little rough, but amazing all at the same time!

 

Miracle #1: I guess the first miracle is that I'm not getting transferred and neither is Sister Hunt! 3 straight transfers of no change! So excited!

Miracle #2: Last Monday after emailing and running errands Sister Hunt and I finally went and got our hair cut. The interesting note about his is that we have been wanting to do this for about a month now. We have been saying every week that we were going to get our hair cut, but it has just never happened for one reason or another. We finally had a day that we could do it. So we went to a Great Clips that we randomly (or inspirationaly) spotted while driving to an appointment a few days before. While we were paying after getting our hair cut, there was a man, Josh, standing behind us. Before we left he asked us what church we went to because he had heard us talking about it and he saw Jesus Christ on our name tags. We talked to him for a few minutes and we gave him a mormon.org card with our number on it and he gave us a business card so we could text each other and send him the address to the church building.
 

Miracle #3: Tuesday we had an appointment with Sarah at Sister Butler's home. It was really good for both of them. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was there and we were able to invite her to be baptized and we settled on March 1st. Sarah is getting baptized in a few weeks! We are all so excited and she is so ready!
 

Wednesday we had a Zone meeting and it was so good! The missionaries here really are amazing. I love learning from everyone! There are a lot of changes this transfer to our Zone, The Durham Zone, and many will be missed.

 

Miracle #4: On Friday we had exchanges and I went up to Chapel Hill with Sister Merrill and we had a really great time! We taught a lot of lessons and I definitely learned how to rely on the Spirit because I knew nothing about the people we were seeing, but was still able to help them in one way or another. This gospel is true! And it can help anyone and everyone no matter what!

 

Saturday we had a few good visits and lessons as well. But the biggest miracle happened just yesterday.

Miracle #5: Sunday we got a text from Josh telling us he was coming to church but might be a little late because it was going to take longer to get there than he thought. He showed up right before the sacrament started. And Sarah also came to church. Sacrament Meeting was perfect for their needs! It is amazing how speakers can be inspired to speak for someone they don't even know or who they didn't even know would be there for the first time. It was just all perfect. The Branch we are in is amazing too! Everyone was talking to Sarah and Josh and inviting them to different things. Sarah is so happy every time she tells someone that she is getting baptized. We had our dinner appointment, the Spencer family, invite Josh over to their home for dinner as well and he came! We had an amazing lesson with him about the Restoration and his beliefs and experiences. Josh has been so prepared for this gospel and he already has amazing faith and the greatest amount of love for our Savior. Now for the sad part... we found out he doesn't quite live in our area. We will be turning him over to the Elders in Chapel Hill soon, but luckily with facebook we can keep in touch and everything. And we will be able to go to his baptism, because I know he'll get baptized.
 

That about sums up my week. I have really found myself this week and relighted my desire to be here and to do this amazing work and help people come unto Christ. I know I'm here for a reason and I love it! I love all these people! I love our Savior Jesus Christ! The Atonement WORKS! It is REAL! He knows everything we are going through and how to help us and make us even better than before.
 

Have a great week my wonderful family! And Happy Valentine's Day this week!

Love,
 

Your smiling missionary,

Sister Shurtz

Real Snow in North Carolina!

Snowy morning!

The same day that y'all got snow at home, we also got snow here. We got between 1 and 2 whole inches of snow!!! haha It's been fun for Sister Hunt and I who are used to having snow this time of year, but at the same time... being a missionary in a place where they aren't used to snow is really hard. We aren't supposed to really go out of our apartment because it "isn't safe." Everyone in the Branch kept saying, "You be careful! You might be used to this weather and know how to drive in it, but us Southerners are crazy!" So we spent a few days not doing a whole lot, especially because we keep taking turns being sick.

 

On Wednesday we even had our district meeting via a conference call. Mostly that was because we would've had to drive a long ways, across a lot of icy places. And one of the elders in our area has never driven in snow before because he is from Honduras. He also is known for having a "lead foot" anyways. We all decided it would be safest to stay in our apartments and just talk on the phone.

 

Later that day we got to visit with Sarah. She had gum surgery this week and has been just laying around the house for the most part. We spent a couple of hours with her and taught her about the Word of Wisdom on the spot. It was really great :) After visiting with Sarah we went to Sister Hickey's home for dinner and she asked us if we could stay and help her with some baby hats she was making for UNC Hospital. It was fun to do something creative and get to know her a little better.
 

Thursday we ventured out more because the snow and ice were pretty much gone. We contacted a few referrals, and taught a few lessons on facebook. We also stopped by Sarah's again to give her some information we had asked us for. We ended up talking to her about family history work. She is in the process of making scrapbooks that are about her ancestors. She has a lot of really great old pictures and writes down stories and information as she adds the pictures to the books. There is a Family History Conference at the Stake Center coming up in a couple of weeks that she really wants to go to. Sarah is just amazing!

 

Friday we did planning and some tracting. That night there was a baptism in our district that Sarah was going to come to, but something came up and her friend needed her help and she wasn't able to make it after all. But Sister Hunt and I went and were able to support an amazing woman who was baptized.
 

Saturday was more tracting and cleaning and getting ready for Sunday. We met some really nice people, but no one really interested in meeting.

 

On Sunday Sarah came to church and had another great experience. She loves how friendly the Branch is and how much they have really welcomed her. She feels a real sense of family in the Branch here, and it is so true! This is an amazing Branch that is always looking for ways to invite and welcome people. We will hopefully we talking with her about baptism in our lesson tomorrow.

 

Sunday evening we went to visit with our investigator Janice. She was having a really good day and didn't have a migraine, like she does just about every day. We were able to talk with her about faith and trusting in the Lord. She is such an amazing example of staying true to the Lord even through trials. She doesn't like to be pushed or pressured into anything, so things like having lessons, coming to church, and being baptized are all going to be her idea if she is going to do them. But she is so open and so amazing! I love her!

 

Well that about sums up my week. I love it here in Pittsboro and pray that I won't be transferred next week so I can be here for Sarah and for Janice and Sister Hunt. But I guess we'll find out on Saturday and I know it is all in the Lord's hands.
 

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all the support you show me each week. It means so much to see emails from you even if it is just a picture or just a little sentence. I love everything about our family!

 

Love,
Sister Shurtz

Some pictures of our "back yard" at night while it was snowing