HOLA!!
So okay, This week has been really great!
But... something great happened! First of all, Sister Javed and I have been just sweltering in our room this whole summer! We couldn't figure it out, because our study room which is right next to our bedroom is nice and cool and the hallway is nice and cool, but our bedroom is SOO HOTT! We can't change our bedroom to our study room because our beds wouldn't fit in there.. so we've just been suffering through it. I have been dying because I am used to being in the basement at home and before living with the Richardsons I lived in an apt where it was very cool. Anyway.. it's just been difficult to sleep at nights with it being so stinkin hot. Well one of the Richardson girls (Crystal) said she saw me sleeping out in the hallway a little while back and in the morning asked why.. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about- I never left my bed. Well apparently I sleep walk and sleep talk! Ha I honestly think it was because I was so hot and my body just couldn't handle it anymore so it moved me to a cooler location without bothering to wake me up. Pretty considerate of my body I think! ;) Well it happened again this week- only this time I vaguely remember doing it. Sister Richardson had gotten up in the middle of the night and saw me laying on the floor in the study room and asked if everything was okay? Not being fully awake I said " i'm soooooo HOTTT!" hahaha and then I walked back into my bedroom. She reminded me about it in the morning about it. I had forgotten because I was half asleep. Well she was really worried about it and felt so bad that our room was so hot. We hadn't told them about it being so hot before because we didn't want to complain. And some people will turn down the AC to save money and such so we didn't want to bother them about it. Anyway, brother Richardson walked into our bedroom while we were out this week and said it was just boiling in there. So he investigated the situation further and guess what he found out? OUR AIR VENT WAS CLOSED!!!! hahaha oh man we all laughed so hard about that. We have been needlessly suffering for no reason!! Ha isn't that how life goes sometimes though? I think we are that way with our Heavenly Father sometimes. We needlessly suffer and struggle just because we don't ASK for help. In 2 Nephi 32:4 it says that if we don't know what to do about something then it is our fault because we did not ASK or Knock. After we are baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost we have no reason and no excuse for not knowing what to do. Because the Holy Ghost will tell us ALLLLL things that we should do (2 nephi 32: 5). If we don't know what to do then its because we didn't do our part! haha I guess you can relate everything to the gospel!
I love that! 
Well this week we didn't have a baptism :'( No beuno. It should be happening at the beginning of Sept though! I hope! All the projected baptisms that we had are getting pushed back. But we will keep the faith and keep working hard!!!! David Rines had his baptismal interview and he is ready for baptism. He just needs to commit to a date and follow through. His baptism is going to be HUGE this has been a long awaited and long prayed for event. He has family that is LDS. His wife and all her family are active LDS. And the ward has been trying to get him to take lessons for years!! WE finally did it though! He is ready and we got in and they are gonna get sealed a year from now- I know it! I am so happy for them! They are a great family! But we have to get him baptized first... I get a little ahead of myself sometimes! :)
The Yost family the one with the three kids that want baptism are all on hold as of now because of parental permission... grrrr. They are sooo ready and have full support in one household but none in the other. I HATE divorce. 
Drew is not sure he wants to be baptized anymore. He has lost his fire and zeal to do this now.. It breaks my heart. But he still likes going to church when he is with his dad and still wants to meet with us, so that is good. He will come along eventually. He is a good kid. I just have to be patient. His mom would give him permission to be baptized if he really showed a desire and really wanted it, but the problem is that he isn't fully sure yet. He is young and still hasn't done his part to gain a solid testimony. He will though. Especially with support from his previously Less Active but now very active dad. We'll keep working with them.
We found a few new investigators this week- Crystal- she lives in the 30th ward apts. and she is 32 with two kids. She is not married but is living with her boyfriend. She is so sweet and nice. She was a street contact. We were in a hurry but I just felt I needed to talk to her so I quickly told her who we were and asked if we could come by and pray with her sometime. She was really open and said yes and gave us her number. When we called and went over she told us the when they were younger and her brother was 16 he joined this church and then died recently after. Since then she hasn't looked into the church much but she has always told her mom that this is the church that she would be baptized into. She is really open. We also are now teaching a man and his wife who are an interesting couple. The wife  Teresa is legally deaf but she can read lips and hear a little if she puts in her hearing aids, but she refuses to wear them, so anyway- we are basically just teaching the husband Mike. He is lutherin but seems genuinely interested. We found him by helping him carry his groceries into his house. He really appreciated it since he's a bit overweight and he lives in the upstairs apt. 
We taught another Lesson with KC and John. I am really excited to be teaching them! We brought a member with us this time. They are next door neighbors and WAY good friends. When John found out that we were bringing his neighbors the Keelers over for the lesson, he said to his wife " oh no! not them! I like them!" haha he told us all that when we came over. Bro Keeler was awesome he told him that there was nothing that was going to change in their friendship either way if they decided not to accept and do this. But he bore a strong testimony telling him that if he does want to do this and learn about this then it's important to him as his friend to be there for him and help him out. It was awesome and very natural and normal. I saw a HUGE difference in John when Bro Keeler was there verses when he wasn't. When It was just us John asked lots of unimportant yet difficult questions and was more just listening to argue basically. This time the spirit was huge. John listened and felt the spirit and it was just so good. I have a huge testimony of Member Present lessons. Oh and KC felt the spirit too. The reason I'm not talking about her is because she has taken lessons without John previously but basically told the missionaries then that if the answer wasn't yes for both her and John then the answer wasn't yes for her. She already knows this is true, but has been patient while her husband got prepared and ready enough to listen. I am so grateful for ward members who gained true friendships and relationships with their neighbors regardless of whether they were ready to talk about religion or anything. 
Another one of our new investigators is Silas. He is 79 and black, and possibly senile.. I don't know. We'll see with him haha.
Welllllllll Transfer news came! On wednesday I will have a new companion. Sister Javed is leaving her greenie area after 9 months! Guess where she is going? She is going to my greenie area! YAY! I am going to write down a whole bunch of potentials and people for her to see! I am so excited. My heart is still in that area a little bit. 
My new companion will be Sister Anderson. She has been out longer than me. I am senior companion still. It will be nice to have someone else driving! Haha unless I get assigned to be the designated driver... that is something they said they are going to be doing soon.
I am back in the Visitors Center! YAY! 
Well I have to GO! I LOVE YOU!

Okay I've got to be quick because I can't print emails anymore so it
takes a long time to read and to see all the pictures plus email you
and the president!
Things here are awesome! We had the baptism for Landon Hassell this
weekend! He is so cute and his family is doing so well now! They have
been to church for three weeks in a row now, and we even got Kyla the
mom to go to relief society! They are such a good family. Landon is so
smart. I know that he is going to be a rock in his family and help
them stay on the path.
We found 7 new investigators this week! That was awesome! :) I am so
happy. We also set a date yesterday with a guy named David Rines!!! Oh
man you have no idea! We have been trying soooooo hard and long to
have a lesson with David. His wife is a semi less active member. She
comes sometimes but is always really busy. She is SOO cute and sweet
and their 3 kids are darling! We had talked to Eve like hundreds of
times but we never even talked to David or met him. Finally she said
well come over for dinner sometime and we'll do it that way so he
doesn't feel pressure. So we set up a dinner appt. And he is SO nice
and ready and open! I don't know what Eve was freaking out about. We
had a lesson with him and found that he knows like EVERYTHING already
about our church. He said he has read up and studied up alot on our
church and doctrines. He just said the only thing he lacks is a
spiritual confirmation and prayer. He said that he would pray and
read. Our next lesson, we had really great members and fellowshippers
for them and we set a baptismal date with him for August 18th! I was
sweating bullets with setting it for so soon. But he accepted and he
is just ready!! I am so happy.
Things are going well in the mission and our Zone is one of the top
zones in the mission! Woot! :)
There are now sisters covering the other 4 wards in our stake that we
don't cover. So now this is a Sister Stake- Yay for SISTA POWER! We
are gonna rock it!
We also have two new investigators. They are named Kc and John
Dikorte. Kc has grown up around the church and has taken lessons
before. I feel like she is ready but that she wants to make the
decision to join and attend church with her husband. He now says he is
willing to listen, but he has heard alot of wrong and bad things about
our church and so he has a lot of hard questions about polygamy etc.
He has ready  alot of literature, which was sited and all so it's
supposedly correct although most anti mormon literature is sited but
extremely twisted in its explanation. Anyway he will be a tough cookie
to crack and his heart is kinda hard. But he said he will listen and
that we can try to help him have an open heart about all this!
We had interviews with our mission president this week and they went
well. President Ellsworth is incredible. I am amazed at the selfless
service that he and his wife give. All their time and thoughts and
efforts are given in this great cause of missionary work and helping
their 200 missionaries to succeed and be better. I don't think they
have any time to themselves. I am so grateful for their service.
President encouraged me to use the For the Strength of Youth Pamphlets
more in our teaching since we are teaching a lot of younger kids that
need parental permission for baptism. We are still working on Drew. We
still have lessons with him and his dad. Our bishop is meeting with
Drew and his mom tonight so I really hope and pray he can get
permission for baptism tonight!
I don't know if I ever told you about Iriwinta and Aldred Begay and
their two kids Dominique and Cheyanne. They are a Native American
family that I gave a tour to at the Visitor Center a couple months
ago. Since the tour I have been teaching them over the phone and they
would come into the VC frequently to see me and have me teach them
lessons! I got them transferred to missionaries and I just got a text
from Irwinita saying that they are all getting baptized August 10. And
she wants me to participate in the baptism! I am so HAPPY! I won't be
able to go or participate because I am not in the area or anything but
I am so happy for them! Irwinita is always giving me things. She gave
me a beautiful indian beaded braclet with my name on it and a necklace
with earrings in a home made pouch thing. She is so sweet and I am so
happy for this wonderful family!! I also had the opportunity to meet
her mom who was visiting her daughter, and teach her about our church
also. The spirit was really strong and she said that when she got back
to the reservation that she would start attending our church.
Lots of good things are happening here on the mission.  I love and
miss you all!
Oh a cool recipe I learned here on the mission is
Rolls:
2 cups of Bisquick
1/2 cup of sour cream
and a cup of 7-up.
They are So good! A family from the south fed us yesterday and had
made them. thought I'd share.
Well I love you all! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
~Sister Michelle Shurtz

AHHHHH!!!! 
My head is swimming! There is so much to think about to thank for and to be excited about! First of all thank you for the packages!!! I got my package of CDs from the VC just barely. So I didn't get them earlier because we are no longer in the VC this transfer. Sister Javed and I are full Feild this transfer, so we never go to the VC. But on friday (my b-day) We went to the VC for a prep mtg. It was awesome! We learned alot and so many gave me cards and notes and they all sang to me. It was too much actually. I hate having all the attention on me!
You also saw that Rachel Tyler took me and my comp out to Garcia's for lunch. That was so fun and she spoiled me! :) I also got cards from the three wards in my first area where all the people I love from the wards signed it. That was so nice of Rachel to head that up. She is so thoughtful! A great friend. 
Also I AM SO SPOILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for ALL the wonderful things that you gave me. Oh my I am overwhelmed. You did you too much! I feel so loved and spoiled!! Thank you! We LOVE the CDs it was so fun to get them! It's fun to have some new music! We really like them and Sister Javed also loves the Praise the Man song too now. She plays it over and over! :) Thank you thank you! 
I am so excited for your baptism that you had!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WAHOO!! :) you are the best! Congrats on setting a date for Tyler! :)
I loved getting some pics of James and Janae's wedding! SO fun!
Aw those beautfiul baby girls! I love it!!!!!!
Sorry this is so short. I don't have much time today. We have lots of lessons planned. Again... whoops. We can't stop though- ha the work must move forward. Sister Javed and I got a phone call from the Assistants to the President telling us what a great job we are doing with our numbers that we send in. He said that we are setting a great example for our zone and for the mission. I guess we are doing alright :) that made us happy and want to work harder. 
We have three baptisms this weekend. 
Debra Petteruti, Drew Howard, and Debbie Dominguez!
I LOVE These people with all my heart!
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Thank you for your love and support and surprizes and thank you for being so awesome!
Isn't the Lord blessing us so mightily? I can't even believe it!
Also, my dear companion just got the most exciting news ever.. HER DAD GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy for her. She has been crying and fasting and praying for this for so long. He is the last one in her family to make this wonderful committment! You know, all her family has gotten baptized while on her mission except her younger sister who got baptized the same time as her! What wonderful blessings! Now they can be sealed two months after sister Javed gets home in the Hong Kong Temple!!!!!!!!!!! :) 
What a wonderful thing the gospel is.
I feel so selfish for not writing more and saying thank you more for all that I have and have been given! 
Thank you and I love you!
~ Sister Chelle Shurtz

hello all you people that I love!
Things are going so well here! And holy pajamas! It sounds like things are Going Fantastic there too!!!! 
YOU HAD A BAPTISM!!!!!! WOW!!!! I am so so so so so excited for you! What a wonderful thing it is to see my own parents moving Gods work along in my home ward back home! You are so wonderful and incredible!Well july here is just as awesome and we totally got utah beat on the warm weather! SO HOT! like 110 at least most of the time! It's hard going around in the apartments where a lot of our investigators live because there are two big pools in the apt grounds and people are always swimming in them! haha. well I am grateful to give up water for a year and half. It's a worthy sacrifice for this INCREDIBLE WORK! I love it WAY more than i love anything else, so it doesn't matter! 
On the 4th we actually were able to get some lessons in. We had a really good lesson with a PMF and they invited us to do a few fireworks with them after. We agreed, because we knew it would be good to bond with the family a bit, but we didn't stay long. Only like 10 min because we would've felt guilty spending too much time doing worldly things instead of teaching. The dinner appt we had, was a BBQ and they had all their family there! It was fun, but sister Javed didn't like it because she thought it was too crowded haha. She would not enjoy our family get togethers then! When we got home later that night, the Richardson family that we are living with, was doing fireworks so we did a few sparklers with them! That was fun- i love sparklers!
Well there are going to be so many miracle baptisms this month! You just get ready! I can't wait!- Literally i can't sit around and wait, i have to shift into high gear! If i am going to expect miracles- I need to do my part!
James and Janae I am just dying that I missed your endowment in the temple and that i'll miss your marriage. You are making the most important decision of your lives! I LOVE YOU!
Gotta go!
I love the pics you sent! Keep smiling! 
~Sister Shurtz

June 25, 2012

Heya!

 

Monday was not our p-day and so it was supposed to be on tues but then we had a five hour temple trip on tues which was supposed to be our p-day so we had to do half our p-day monday and half our p-day tues! Then on Wed and thursday I went on exchanges to scottsdale with Sisters Jensen and Taylor, and on Friday and Sat I went on exchanges with Sister Kranendonk!! and Anderson. Then on Sunday I was in church all day and then straight to the VC. So yeah.. no time to do missionary work in my area :( Sister Javed just went and hung out at the VC and went to other sisters areas with them while I was on exchanges.

So the Temple trip was way awesome! President and Sister Ellsworth decided that they wanted to do two temple sessions in a row back to back with all the missionaries in the Mesa mission! It was so neat! I have never done that before! We had to be at the temple at 6:30 am so we had to get up at 5 am that morning.. iyiyiyi! haha. It was hard to stay awake.. I won't lie. But It was still a really amazing experience. I am glad I was able to do it! Things that I hadn't noticed while going through the first session jumped out at me during the second session! I love the temple! So peaceful and wonderful and miraculous!

The exchange in Scottsdale was fun. The people there are so incredible rich! I can't believe it! Some live in normal houses but others live in masions! We had a really neat lesson with a guy named Gerry. He is from New York so he had a funny New York accent. it was really hard for the sisters to even teach Gerry because he would just talk over them when they tried to talk. Haha. he wasn't trying to be mean, he just liked to tell really long storiesOh man, neat guy though. If he would let the sisters talk he would be ready to be baptized really soon!

With Sister Kranendonk and Anderson we stayed in a members guest house. Holy Samoly! The guest house is bigger than our actual house! They live in a HUGE house! I thought it was a lodge to a hotel or something. They have 5 garages, wow. It was just crazy. Anyway they live in Clyde Bawdens guest house. Do you know who he is? That awesome piano player? He's awesome! Anyway. I still don't know my area at all, and I don't know the people in it very well at all. I feel like we don't have time to meet members because we are always in lessons! It's good, but hard. I know we need to work with members more.

THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!!!

June 19, 2012

Well Sorry for not writing Yesterday. Our P-day is tuesday this week!
This week has been crazy. We have so many people that we are teaching that I can't keep em all straight.  We are teaching a lot of part member families. In fact MOST of our investigators are PMFs here. There is an aptment complex in one of my wards (the 30th ward) that is called Reflection Apts. That place is a gold mine! We are finding new investigators from those apartments weekly! I think it's because that's the only place that we can catch people outside! Ha nobody is outside in the summer time- it's too hot!! 
Well we had a really awesome lesson with a japanese guy named Wayne this week. He is so intelligent and I love teaching him because he really pays attention and really wants to change and know the scriptures. We set a baptismal date for July 7th with him, he is going to pray about it, but we are hoping it will happen! He does need to get married, but we have been working with him on that and he told us this week that he is getting married on the 25th of this month! What a miracle! Now we just have to get him to stop smoking. He wants to, it's just a matter of nourishing that desire with faith unto action! Lets see... I had some really neat miracles at the Visitors Center. We have a neat Art Exhibit up called "Witnesses For Christ" They are paintings done by Liz Lemon Swindle of the life of Christ. They are absolutely incredible! I love the emotion that she puts into her paintings! They are so expressive! This exhibit will be up from June to September. Anyway, there was an indian mom and dad that came in and asked me, "is this the Visitor Center?" I said "yes! have you been here before?" They told me they hadn't and so I asked them if they wanted a tour. They said yes. So I took them through the exhibit, and it was so amazing. We spent over an hour going through all the paintings. I taught the whole restoration and parts of the plan of salvation and other principles of the gospel all with the paintings of the savior. They soaked it all in! During all this, the Lady (Irwinita) asked me how she could get her son to go on a mission and be a missionary like me. The question caught me off guard since none of them are members of our church and they said that this is the first time they had really ever looked into our church. But I told her that her son would need to meet with missionaries, be willing to live and keep all the commitments that the missionaries give him and then get baptized and then in a year he could put in his papers to serve a mission. She was so excited. She said. This is what my son needs! I want him to do this. She then told me that she wanted to schedule a tour for me to do with her and her husband, and son and daughter. It was amazing. They are such a neat couple. I know that they will be baptized soon. They have such real intent and are already such good people. I am excited to do the tour for their family. It will be tonight. Another experience I had at the Visitors Center was when I was starting a movie for an elderly couple. The grandma suddenly asked me, how can I get my 21 year old grandson to go to church? I started laughing and said that's a great question that I think alot of people would like the answer to. But then I started talking to her about him. I told her that I could give him a call and invite him to go and learn more. He isn't a member of our church but he is a really good kid. He said that he is saving himself for his wife, and he doesn't drink or smoke or anything. He said that he doesn't know if he believes in God though. He has never been taught to believe, he said that to him believing in God is kinda like believing in Santa Clause. Aw that really broke my heart. Wow I mean can you imagine- not having this knowledge of our Heavenly Father? Oh man. I am still teaching Brennin over the phone, I hope that he will take my challenge to pray and ask God if he is there. 
 I also helped a young 20 year old girlt that came into the VC to take the decision to be baptized. She has been meeting with the missionaries, since november but when I started talking to her about some of the basic aspects of the Plan of Salvation she had no idea what I was talking about!! ha... sometimes I wonder about those elders... what have they been teaching her all this time? Haha not my place to judge, anyway, she was ready for baptism she just didn't know it! She called the elders that next day and told them she was ready! yaya! 
Well there are so many other miracles! I just don't have time to write them all! The Lord is blessing me so much! 

`Love Chella Shurtza
MWAH

Letter received by the Shurtz Family from the Mission Field

Dear Sister Shurtz,

I'm writing this note to wish you a happy Mother's Day and to thank you for the amazing young woman you raised and then shared with us at the Mesa Temple Visitors' Center.  Our Sister Shurtz is such a dedicated, capable young missionary who is blessing the lives of many people in our mission.  She is so sweet and friendly that she immediately puts everyone she meets at ease.  Guests who come into the center love to visit with Sister Shurtz, and that makes such a huge contribution to the VC.

 

My heart ached with hers this past two weeks while she has been mourning the loss of her sister.  I would like to offer my condolences to both of you and to your family, and hope you will be blessed for the loving care you gave Lacy while she was in your home.  I cannot imagine the sacrifices you had to make to care for her special needs.

 

Sister Shurtz sings in our VC choir, and I wish you could hear them - they sound like angels.  I admit I am guilty of the sin of pride when they sing at the Mission President's Firesides.  They receive rave reviews from all who hear them.

 

Sister Shurtz is a favorite with all the sisters at the center because she is so warm and loving.  I'm sure she's a favorite with the members in the wards in her area as well.

 

President Faust once said:  "There is no greater good throughout the world than motherhood.  The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation."  I truly believe that statement.  Thank you so much for the influence you have had in helping Sister Shurtz develop her love of the Savior and the desire to serve Him.   She is a wonderful example of what a young LDS missionary should be.

 

 

Thanks again for your example, your support, and your sacrifice in letting us enjoy your beautiful daughter.  We love her so much!