Boy oh Boy!
It's been a great week! Marcelo just received the Aaronic priesthood and is now getting an interview for his temple recommend for baptisms for the dead! So exciting! Another really neat thing was that Jim, (who is 35 bald has glasses and extreme migraines)  is really progressing well. He is having an open heart and said he will continue to read and pray. We had a lesson scheduled with Jim during the same time that Marcelo was having His preisthood Ordination that we were invited to so we were not going to be able to make it.. but then we decided to ask Jim if he would come with us to Marcelo's ordination, even though Marcelo is in another ward. He said that would be fine and then we did a church tour afterwards with him and he said he would come to church the next day! And guess what? He came!! So cool! Sister Crawford and I gave talks in church and Jim and Beth and one of her daughters were there to hear! I was so happy! The talk went well.... I'll tell more about all that in my letter. 
Sister Crawford and I are getting along so well and I really love being her companion! We are starting to get better at teaching in unity. She is trying to do better at being on time and keeping her comments missionary appropriate ;) I still love riding bikes! It is just so wonderfully nice right now! The weather is just perfect and I just wish it would stay this way because I know that soon it's going to get HOTTER than fire, which might be an understatement! I'm excited to take on the heat though! Whoo! Well we are busy teaching lots of people! We are teaching two different girls in the poinsettia ward that have pink hair! haha. 
Today we got up at 4:40 am to hike camel back for our zone activity! It was lots of fun! When we got to the top we all knelt down on the rocks and said our mission prayer. We have this thing throughout our mission, where every missionary in the Mesa mission kneels down and says a prayer at 7:55 am wherever they are at with their companion or with other missionaries if you are with them! It's really neat. Later today after emails and laundry we are going to go make pizza's together as a zone! I like my Zone alot! 
 Thank you for all your love and support! The Lord has really blessed me this week and helped me feel less stressed this week, or at least has just let me see some of the fruits of my labors. I know the Lord is mindful of me and all that I am doing! 
Love you all so much!!! 
~Sister Shurtz

Hello Hello!

Well things are going pretty good here. My struggles are different than they were a transfer or so ago. I know where I'm going! And I can find anything with an address. Hahha that's progress for me. I also feel like I know what's going on better and that the ward members are starting to know me and trust me. Now what I am dealing with is helping my companion know where she is going and feel comfortable with the ward members and what is going on. 

I love my companion so much! She has so much personality and knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to be different, I love her! She is a great missionary too!

The work this week has been frustrating. We have had long meetings everyday this week except one day. That one day was very successful, but the rest is just were frustrating! Also one of our investigators who was so sincere and was progressing so well. Has just dropped off the face of the earth. Her name is Dianna. She was living with her daughter-in-law, and was helping her alot, but when Dianna tried to correct her in something she got mad and kicked Dianna out. She has no phone, no drivers liscense. No nothing... We have no way of contacting her or making sure she gets missionaries. :( I know that the Lord will bring them to her again though. Or maybe when she gets settled she will seek them out herself. She had read like half the Book of Mormon in a week, and was underlining it like crazy. It kills me. Also a girl that we were just going to meet with after emails today, just texted us and said she doesn't want to meet with us, and said she would rather us meet with someone who wants to learn. ugh! I hate that. I'm sorry, things really are good too though! Beth and two of her girls came to church!!! that was awesome. We went over to her house the day before and reminded her about it, then that morning we called and texted her and when she didn't answer, we showed up at her house 5 min before church started! Haha she had just gotten out of bed! We said Beth you should come, you'll only be a couple minutes late, how can we help you get there? She said, okay i'll come, go ahead and go, i'll be there in a few minutes! And she came! Yay!! She only stayed for sacrament mtg because she was in pain, but her daughters stayed the whole time and loved it!

Marcelo will be baptized this week! It's crazy all of the opposition that their family is facing with the baptism! Oh man... I just pray that he will be strong! I know that the whole ward is behind him helping in any way they can! The Sherwood park ward is so amazing! truly the way all wards should be!

There are so many good things happening! I just know though that there could be so much more! I feel unqualified, and feel like if there were better missionaries here that the work would be moving along so much better. I need to be more dedicated and diligent and organized. I am not discouraged, I am just frustrated with my own weakness as a missionary, a trainer, as a daughter, and sister and as a human being! ah! haha I feel like nephi in 2Nephi 4. When he exclaims "Oh wretched man that I am! etc." But I know that I just need to read the rest and be comforted because Nephi doesn't let himself get down for long and he remembers his blessings and that the Lord and his angels are constantly round about him and he prays for the lord to help him to abhor sin and be stronger and better etc. This chapter has become one of my favorites! I know that the Lord will be with me to guide and strengthen and uplift me if I am diligent and work harder than i thought I could! I love the talk be President Henry B. Eyring, called "Preparation in the Priesthood: I Need Your Help" it's so good! I hope I can work longer and harder than I thought I could. I know that the Lord loves me and is blessing me and is so aware of me! I just need to put in all the effort that is required of my hands!

Thank you THANK YOU for your letters love, prayers and constant support! You are so wonderful and your love and advice is so needed and so appreciated! I love to hear what is going on in all of your lives! Thank you for being patient with me! I am terrrible at writing letters, and making time for things! I am so sorry! Please be patient with me while I learn! I love you all!!!

~Love Sister Shurtz

Hey Hey HEY!

It's me again.. So this week I had LTM's which is Leadership Training Meeting on Tuesday and Wedneday. Both of those meetings were 8 hours long! yikes! Ha they were both so good though and it was great to be with all the leaders in the Mesa mission and learning from our Mission President and his wife! I do have to say that I feel a titch overwhelmed though. I already knew there were so many things that I needed to work on and incorporate into my training and into my own learning, but now there is pages and pages of things to incorporate! AH! How do I do it all? There is too much I need to do to be better! I am now just trying to calm down and take it a little at a time and apply it as I can. Line upon line precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, until I am the best missionary that ever lived! hahah jk. But yeah. Well Sister Crawford is so cute! She just brightens my day and is so willing to go out and work! She is good at reminding me when I try to double book appointments which I have tried to do 3 times now this week! haha. oh man. I sometimes think that I don't have a brain! Maybe that's why i'm here right? To get one!

Everything takes longer when you are teaching a training because you have to do what needs to be done, and help your trainee the whole time as well and make sure the understand and do it right etc. Oh man, I am getting good mom training skills here! I know that it would be so much easier to just do everything by myself, but the only way to help them learn is to teach them and let them make mistakes etc.That is how you must feel as a mom!

The work is going alright, I feel like we should have so much more sucess than we have now, because we have so much more time with us being full field now!! Ha oh dear.. I honestly have no idea what i'm doing! I hope I get this figured out soon. :) Sorry I hope I don't sound like I am complaining! I really am loving this and I am just learning how much I need to rely on the Lord and let him help me through this and figure this all out!

Marcelo Certoma is progressing very well! His baptism will be FEB 18th. He is excited and we are having his interview this saturday!

Beth is doing... alright. We are just trying to convince her to let her husband be in on the discusions that we are teaching to her and her girls. He said he is willing to sit in on them, but she told us that she doesn't feel comfortable with that and doesn't want him to. We are going to talk to her about it again, she knows that this is what needs to happen for her to be able to receive his approval for baptism... iyiyiyi. We are praying for her and her husband and girls!

We are now teaching danny and teresa (cookie- that is what they call her). They have committed to be baptized on March 3rd. We are now realizing that we may need to move the date back because of law of chastity issues and because Danny just got out of prison etc.. We are working with them though. We have a few new investigators and Harmony ward is doing so well!!

 I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Hopefully I can get to letter writing this week! MWAH
~ sister shurtz!

Life Training

Hello Familia!

This week been interesting! It has been so hectic and crazy and scary and great and wonderful all at the same time! First off I am training the cutest lil thang from Annacordes (no clue how to spell it) Washington State. She lives on an island an hour north of seatlle. She is an earth muffin and recycles EVERYTHING, She won't even wear certain materials such as polyesther becuase it's not recyclable! ;D She is so cute though. She LOVes birds and loves being on bikes. She is also such a good missionary! It's really neat being able to train her because she has been a member of the church for only 2 and a half years! I know right? and she's on a mission yes. Her mom and her brother and sister joined the church also but they are all less active. Her dad is not a member and does not support her. She's incredible. I am amazed at her faith of coming out here on all those terms. It's fun being a trainer for her because she knows the basics of what she needs to know to be a missionary because that's what we teach as missionaries, is the basics! But she just finished the BOM for the first time yesterday! So it's fun teaching her all the stories and things songs and things that she doesn't know yet. She is so willing to learn and although she doesn't like a lot of the rules and doesn't get why we have some of them she is willing to be obedient. I  just do my best to explain why we have them and just tell her that if we are obedient whether we know the reason or not then we will be blessed just like Adam. I am already having so much fun being her companion! What a sweet heart! Training full field is tough. Ha I am not used to planning for all that time! I was like, yikes! How do I use all this space?! But now I'm starting to get the hang of it and there is so much work to do and so many people to see and still yet not enough time for it all!

Oh boy, I am excited! We are gonna set our areas on FIRE! especially the harmony ward, we are really working hard there, and trying to get to know the members and get them excited for missionary work! Whoo! We already have 4 baptismal dates set! Oh man and GUESS WHAT??????!!!!!!!!!!!! Marcelo Certoma is getting baptized!!!!!!!! YAYAH baby! so neat. His date is set for the 18th of Feb! Aw the Lord is blessing us so much! I know that as we do our best to be obedient and truly put our whole faith and trust in the Lord that he will poor out blessings upon us! I will not lie, this week has been difficult and challenging, but it has been even more, joyful and rewarding. Wow, I can't believe how much the Lord is blessing us. I hope that I can continue to rely on Him and put my whole faith and trust in Him, because I really honestly just can't do this without Him. I am truly learning the truth of what so many prophets have proclaimed, that in the strength of the Lord all things are possible. We just have to put our trust in him and not in the arm of flesh.

 XOXOOX

MWAH!

~Sister Shurtz

Hello Family

something has come up that I am verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry worried about... Sister Hansen had asked our Bishop Pyper in the Sherwood Park to give her a going away blessing. And afterwards he said that he felt to ask me if I wanted one too. I was so grateful that he asked because the whole time that sister Hansen was receiving her blessing I just felt a burning in my heart to have a blessing from him also, but I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to take away from sister Hansens moment with her leaving and every thing..... yeah that's right- SHE'S LEAVING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So... I'll get to that in a second. Anyway tears just started running down my face when he asked me that and I said yes of course. He gave me a beautiful blessing, and I am so grateful to have a bishop that is so inspired and close to the Lord, that he could tell me the things from the Lord that I needed to hear in that exact moment!

Okay okay.... So we got transfer news.... Guess what?

i'm Training!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!! can you believe it? I couldn't. I got a phone call the night before from President Ellsworth. He said that sister Hansen was a great trainer and that she had done so well with me, and I had done so well in following her and being obedient that I was going to be training the new missionary that came in. OH MY! I was speechless. I am still being trained, my last day of training ends today, and then I start training tomorrow!!!!!!! I can't believe it. Anyway president told me, ha and I didn't say anything at first because I couldn't. Then he said that I was phenominal and blad di bla bla.. and that I would do a great job.. I finally choked out a thank you president and I will do my best. He then told me he loved me and hung up. AH!!!!! I couldn't breathe! I tell you I was not expecting that. I have been so worried the past couple days. I feel so inadequate and I don't know what I'm doing! Plus guess what else?? I'm training full field! I will be going full field for at least a transfer. So that will be new too because I have never been full feild before. Oh boy. This'll be fun! ha... I am really really excited though. And it's funny because I have been telling the Lord to do what He wants to with me and that I am clay in His hands, and I told Him to mold me and stretch me and make me what He wants me to be, and I will do my best to be moldable! Oh boy.. why did I say that?? haha now he is doing it. This is going to be a big stretch, one that I honestly know that I am not ready for without the Lord guiding my every step. I am excited for my relationship to grow with my Heavenly Father as I learn to rely more fully on Him. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!! I don't know who my companion is that I will be training yet. I will find out tomorrow, at a meeting. I think it could possibly be Melanie Parker though! The one that was my friend from High School!!! I hope so, I just love her! That would be sweet! I will let you all know!

I love you all! MWAH!

~ Sister Shurtz

Hey Hey Hey!

This week has been great! Sorry I guess I got a bit excited about all the changes that will be happening.. We don't get transfer news until Saturday this week! Ha sister Hansen is still my companion for now! It's very possibel that we will still be together after transfer news! Ah I'm going crazy with all of the possibilities though! :)  In our prep mtg all the sisters stood up and gave a 30 sec 'I'm a mormon' statement. Mine was, "My name is Sister Shurtz, I'm clumsy, I love the water- i'm a fish, I love the outdoors, and my family. I love to learn, but i'm not a fast learner, I love music, and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and being a missionary, and... I'm a mormon! It was fun to hear everyones statements. Then they stood up and gave theirs. They both went to Utah state. Sister Beckstrand loves to cook and is a piano teacher and loves music. Elder Beckstrand loves basketball and the gospel. They said alot of other things.. but I don't remember! Sorry! That was fun though- and i'm excited to get to know them better.

The work... well Beth has a baptism date now.. for march 17th.. forever away!! We were planning on moving it up and then we got a text from her saying that she finally told her husband that she was getting baptized and that they got in a big ol argument about it... Ugh! I don't know whats happening now. We stopped by her house after church to talk to her because she didn't come. She said that she would talk to us about what happened on Thursday because her husband was there and she didn't want to tell us what happened in front of him.. oy I am so nervous that she will decide to not get baptized.. Especially because Sister Hansen and I both felt that if she decides not to that we will have to drop her, she has been meeting with the missionaries 4ever! and is just afraid of commitment it seems. Anyway.. it'll break my heart to drop her.. I have cried and cried just at the thought of it! She texted us and told us that she is going to pray about what to say to her husband so that's good... Marcelo (romina's husband) is not progressing. Kills me, but we are still working with him. He can't come to church because of his dumb ol job. So don't know what to do there. Jaun and Tereza are so hard to get ahold of because they are always at the hospital. So we haven't hardly taught them at all.,and Lawanna still hasn't written me back about Tereza.  The work is going slow.. it's killing me. We are constantly finding people to teach and talk to but everything is falling through. It's frustrating but i'm trying my best not to be discouraged and to push through! Oh and dad.. how do halfway houses work? We are trying to get ahold of a guy that is in a half way house that wants to learn, but every time we go by nobody will answer the door...

Really though, I am just loving this work! I am a blessed missionary!

AHH I have to go, I need to say so much more.. bleh.. hahha love you all BUNCHES!

~ sister SHurtz 

Changes

Hello! 

 Yep three months now! Transfers are coming up soon and I am worried out of my mind that Sister Hansen will be taken away from me! I don't know anything yet! There is a new english speaking sister coming in this transfer too so someone will have to train her. Anyway Interveiws with President are tomorrow and I am trying to think of what I want to talk to him about. Ha I really don't have any pressing matters of concern or worry. I am happy and I am working to be better. The area is going pretty good, and I have a fantastic companion! It's interesting because I feel so lucky and really just blessed more than anything. Yep... the Whites are leaving. ;) I seriously want to cry when I think of that. They have been a huge source of love, guidance, comfort and advice while here on the mission. I am sad to see them go. But they have served their mission honorably! There are going to be alot of changes soon. The Beckstrands our new VC director will be here soon! Lots of changes! Lots of FUN! I'm excited! I'm learning that change is good. That there is no progression when there is no change. It's like that quote I always say. "There's no comfort in a growing zone, and no growing in a comfort zone". So get out of the comfort zone and LOVE IT! it's like that talk by elder wirthlin- come what may and love it! What a good talk, it has become one of my favorites. It's one that I share alot with people because so many are going through so much pain and heartache. That talk reminds us that happiness is a choice. Anyway.. I'm excited for all this change and for the opportunity to become better. Elder Holland conotates that change is a form of repentance. He says that repentance isn't a long and foreboding process that is never ending and eternal- repentance can be instantaneous. We can be forgiven and repent as soon as we decide to change and stayed changed! It's that simple decision to change. That is repentance. Of course we still have to stay that way and live it the rest of our lives and do our best to right our wrongs but the actual repentance comes in the change. Decide to change and DO IT!

 I have been able to call someone from denmark and from Rwanda Africa! It was fun! I actually ended up emailing them though because even though they speak english the understanding is still not there.. they both seemed interested and excited though; so I guess i'll have to wait until they email back to see! The ratio of acceptance in the referalls that we receive is usually about 1 person in every 10 member referalls will accept to have missionaries. My goal is to get at least one confirmed a day or one Top Box a day from talking to someone in the VC.

Our Area is going pretty good. The poinsettia ward is booming, I feel like all of our work is there! We are constantly meeting people in that area. We are now in the process of teaching 5 different single men. Wow I tell ya, that is different. We are used to teaching only women. It seems like it's always the women who are interested and have soft and open hearts. We are having a hard time teaching the men though, because we can't go in without a member there and we have to have lessons in members homes. That is something that we are working on doing anyway but it's hard because you have to rely alot on the members to help you out, and they are often not very reliable. We are really trying though- plus to tell you the truth.. these men are all pretty flaky on sticking to planned appointments. blech! haha we are trying though.  We are also teaching a women named Tereza who is almost exactly like Lawanna, the one who has breast cancer that I tought in the MTC. I am having Lawanna write Tereza a letter and I really hope that they can stay in contact and help eachother through their cancer and their struggles. It's really cool. I know that the Lord puts certain people in our lives for a purpose. Lawanna helped me alot. But she will help Tereza out in her life more than I ever could because they can relate.

Beth came to CHURCH! WOOT i am so happy. We have one more lesson to teach her before she is through all the lessons. She came to the mission presidents fireside which was so good! We actually tricked her into going.. she is the most charitable person and will do anything for anyone, so we told her we needed a ride there, which we did... so she took us there and stayed :D It was for her. President had asked us all to bring families we were working with and the firside was just for them!

Harmony is still dead- it's like there is so much work in the other wards that we don't have time to focus on it.. ugh I don't know what to do. Well there's more to say but I have to go, I only have 5 min and I still have to write president! AH! ha oh and no I don't get to go to the temple on p-days.. :( only once a transfer. I get to stare at it everyday though! hahaha LOVE YOU ALL!

MWAH!

~sister shurtz