Open Your Mouth

Hey Everyone! It has been a tiring week! The weather for the most part has been in the high 90's, and of course humid enough to drink the air. Thursday Elder Call and I traveled about 27 miles on bike in that heat, then Friday was about the same, except around 4 in the afternoon it got cool, and started pouring rain around 7. Luckily, we had an appointment with the Stephens Family, a new-member family, and right when we arrived at their porch, the rain started pounding. They graciously gave us garbage bags that we used as ponchos. I wish we had a picture, because we found no shame in our dorky attire with long white sleeves and a head poking out of a garbage bag as we are racing down a street towards the next family we wanted to visit. By the time we got back to our apartment, we were soaked.

Andre wants to be baptised! His date is the 21st of August. He is such a great guy, and I truly know that Christ's gospel can change is life, because He has already seen it happening while meeting with us. I just hope he continues to grow and seek that light. It is exciting because we have 5 people planned for baptism within the next 2 months and they are excited to work towards it. It is amazing to recognize the light of Christ in people's eyes, and their recognition of the truth through the Holly Ghost. Elder Call and I are really trying this week to talk to people and find new people to teach. We really want to work with the members more, but it takes time to gain that trust, and many are extremely busy as it is. So we are out on the streets more just talking to people that are out and about. In the evenings we sometimes go tracting too. I'm slowly getting more comfortable talking to people. Some are nice, others are simply uninterested, and some just plain angry. It is always interesting when going to a door, you know people are home, because you ether saw them through the front window, heard them, or they have the TV blaring - yet they wont even come to the door.

We have a unique message; a message that changes lives, a message that is so eternally important. I wish all the people we meet could understand this. The message that Jesus Christ has restored His church and His truths again so that we may know how to be happy, not only in this life, but in all eternities. So many people we ask if they believe God would speak not only to people in the middle east, but to the whole world answer yes. And when they hear about the Book of Mormon and its teachings about Jesus Christ they believe something like it could exist, yet they won't even look at it to find out for themselves if it is true. Many believe that God would call a prophet to lead his people today, yet many don't have the desire to look for him... It is those that act upon a desire to follow God, and to search for truth, those are the people we want to find. Our purpose as a missionary is to INVITE other to come unto Christ by helping them RECEIVE the restored gospel through faith in Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holly Ghost, and Enduring to the End. We can only invite, and it is those we meet that must receive it themselves.

I know that God prepares his people on his own time-table, and that this is one of the greatest works we can do.

I hope everyone is having a good week. Thankyou for your letters, and your love.

Love,Elder Shurtz

PS - dad's verizon email account is blocking my emails. Dad, please go to the address below to unblock it. :)