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!