"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful. How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."
It is from President Uchtdorf's talk "Grateful in Any Circumstances." The full talk can be found at:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-
This
week is one of those weeks when I KNOW that everything we do and
everything that happens is according to the will of the Lord and that
the Spirit is helping us in all things.
Tuesday
we visited a former investigator, Mrs. Mary, and found a new
investigator, Ms. Evelyn. We were able to share brief messages with both
of them about how much our Father in Heaven loves us and that He has a
plan for us.
Wednesday
we had a meeting in Wilmington and then came to Shallotte to have lunch
with Sister Strickland. She took us to Bart's BBQ which has really good
fish and barbecue. One of the managers there is a member of the ward,
Sister Gilbert, and they loaded us up with food to take home too! As we
were leaving the restaurant we noticed a woman in the parking lot with
the hood of her car open. She looked hot and stressed out. It was a very
warm day and her car had overheated. After talking for a little while,
and figuring out that there was really nothing we could do, because we
don't know anything about cars, we decided to give her some of the food
we had in our car. She had been driving for a few hours already and had a
few more hours to go before getting home to South Carolina. We got her
some water and ice and gave her some food.
Wednesday
night we were supposed to have a lesson with Brother Evans at the
Family History Center, but he was not feeling up to coming, so we still
went and had some fun looking at the websites and reading about our
ancestors. I read about Shadrach Roundy who is my Great-Great-Great
Grandfather and found out that he was baptized by Joseph Smith in
January of 1831!!! I am so grateful for family who has been close to the
Lord and members of the church for over 6 generations now.
After
we left the church, Brother Cheney, our ward mission leader, went to
Walmart. And while in the parking lot he met Sister Wright's son! His
name is Matthew. Brother Cheney took him to the church and showed him
where it was and he said that he would be there on Sunday for church.
Thursday
we went to Calabash and did service at the thrift store and dropped of
some things that Brother Evan's wanted. We had our member cancel on us
that morning because of bad health, so we weren't able to teach him a
real lesson. That night we had another crazy storm come through right as
we were eating dinner. The storm kept us at a member's home until it
passed. Luckily no harm or damage done, just some extra rain and some
lightning and thunder.
Friday
we had a coordination meeting in the morning and then went to lunch
with Sister Scheneewis. After we were finished we gave a Book of Mormon
to our waiter, Pat, and hopefully we will be able to go back to the
Waffle House soon to see if he has read any of it.
After
lunch we did service at the library until the McKibben's called us.
They are the Senior Couple serving in our district now and they were
coming to Shallotte for the day to visit some of our less active
members. We were able to go with them to visit Brother Coffey and he was
doing SO good that day! He was smiling and talking a little more than
normal and he shook our hands when we left!
Saturday
we had a VERY busy day planned... but our plans all got changed on us
as we went to our first appointment. We went to Hazel's to vacuum and
have lunch and she explained that she thought we were coming for dinner
and she had invited her neighbors over as well. We told her that we
would be able to come back for dinner, but that meant not going up to
Ash like we had planned on doing. So after Hazel's we went to the church
for out appointment with Sister Wright. We had our members there and
everything... and then we called her and she said something had come up
and she needed to cancel. So we called Ryan to see if he could come and
have a lesson. He said he couldn't be there for another HOUR! So Sister
Skipper and Brother Cheney waited with us for an hour for him to be able
to make it there. We had a really good lesson with him though! Clearly
the Lord had different plans than what we had for that day! After our
lesson we did some phone calls and facebook and then it was time to head
back to Hazel's for dinner. We got to meet her neighbors and feed the
turtles in the pond. Here is picture of us with Hazel. (Hazel is also
the woman who knitted Renae's Mother's Day present.)
| Sister Bartholemew and I with Hazel |
Sunday
we had Brother Evans and Matthew Wright and his wife Tiffany all come
to church! It was so wonderful! We had an amazing sacrament meeting and
an amazing Sunday
School class that was taught by Sister Bartholomew and I totally last
minute! I can't believe sometimes how much the Lord will guide us if we
are trying to and willing to listen to the Spirit.
Overall,
we have 6 people we are teaching and about 4 less actives we try to
visit every week. Brother Nemerov and Michael are out of town so we
didn't get to see them this week. But Shallotte is definitely a busy
place with lots for us to do. We are so very blessed!
Love y'all!
Sister Shurtz
P.S.~ One day we found a snake outside of our door that was about 3 feet long.... GROSS!!!
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