Sister Shurtz's First Letter

Michelle's first letter was 5 pages, so I am going to insert different pieces into this post.

"Wow.... where to start?! First off- I LOVE being a missionary!! It's incredible- the power to teach and desire to learn are greatly increased- I can feel that so strongly. So they don't waste time here- they get right to business and throw you right into it all.  My experiences so far have been great and uplifting but literally exhausting- It's an overwhelming yet wonderful experience. "
"I love my companion, she is just fantastic. Her name is Sister Kranendonk, we have decided to go with Sister K. Now I am being completely honest right now- I seriously love this sister- we are so much alike and share so many common interests- she is 23 and has a strong testimony of the gospel.  She is very sweet and truly desires to better herself in every way- she is open to any suggestions of study and routine.  We have set goals to get to know the Elders and Sisters in our district and to be more outgoing and friendly to everyone. I love that she has a great attitude. We have the perfect companionship- we both work hard study hard and have a strong desire to improve in any way possible and be obedient. It was funny when the Zone leaders were talking to us about doing companion inventory, because Sister K and I basically do companion inventory ALL THE TIME just in our normal conversation- we are constantly talking about things we like about each other and also asking each other what we can iimprove on and what we need help with"
"Today Sister K and I are preparing a lesson on faith and will be teaching our first lesson to a (mock) investigator.  We are both excited and nervous because our instructor will be acting as the investigator is really direct and knowledgeable.   She is really going to test us, which is good, but also scary.  Our instructors in class are amazing- they are powerful and teach with a strong spirit." 
"Sister K and I studied like crazy for our first investigator discussion and boy am I glad we prepared! The Elders that went to the same investigator before us didn't even get into the door- so we were so nervous! We said a prayer before and told ourselves that no matter what we were going to get into that door! We did get into the door and we taught, but nothing that we had prepared in our outline- it was amazing.  Sister K is so inspired and we fed off of each other so well." I thought it was interesting that the lesson plan that we had prepared for her was on faith-yet we didn't teach it to her- we ourselves needed that lesson plan so that we could have sufficient faith to follow the spirit and let it fill our mouths.  The Lord works in mysterious ways."

"This place is awesome! I love it here and I love this work! Thank you for your love and prayers, I need them!"
Sister Shurtz