In My Dreams!

Renae asked if I have had any sleeping stories like sleepwalking, etc... I do not. 

But I have had some wicked dreams on my mission.  Last night, we (the family) had the quorum of the 12 apostles over for dinner at our home (Wenatchee home).  Then the next thing I know, a bunch of people from school started showing up as well.  It was strange, but now I can at least say I ate with the 12 apostles (in my dreams).

When Emily got her mission call, I had a dream that we were companions exercising in the morning.  Then it switched to me waltzing with this really tall black guy who we were teaching at the time. 

I've also had multiple dreams of teaching people back home, or being home, yet still a missionary.  In another dream, dad was my companion and we went tracting all day.
I guess when your mind and body are constantly going, so is the 'dream maker' part of your mind.

Tuesday morning, 5 minutes from leaving the apartment, this little girl on her bike ran into me and my bike.  She is fine.  As she went her way and we went ours, I noticed that my front tire was all bent up!  Luckily, we had a spare tire, so we pedaled back up to replace it.

Transfers are this week ,and both Elder Rammell and I are staying.  Elder Potter is going home!  I'm going to miss him.  I served with him when he was 14 months out, now he is going home, and I am 14 months out! 

This week we did not see Carin!  It was sad.  She also couldn't come to church, so we hope to see her this Wednesday.

The weather has been nice and cool.  A few showers (or buckets of rain) every so often.

We did not have the Preach My Gospel class this week because it was Branch Conference and the District was in charge for all three hours.  But we will be starting a second class that will run at the same time only on Tuesday nights.  So we will be starting that tomorrow.

Hope you have a great week! 

Elder Shurtz

A Week in the Life



Zone Conference - July 28, 2011



This past week has gone by so fast!  It seems like days just blend together.

Monday - We picked up a new investigator, CJ.  It is a friend of a member who is less-active.  We hope to get him at church some time.

Tuesday - We started teaching a lady named Shannon.  She has two kids, one with Autism.  She is curious, and busy.  We will be seeing her again tomorrow.
We also met with Mrs. Edmunds, and we are still chugging along with her.

Wednesday - Met with Carin and taught her the Word of Wisdom.  It will probably be one of the hardest things she will have to do, and she is stressed out about it.  We are praying she will find peace and courage to do it.

Also met with a less-active who seems to have brightened up.  She even fed us dinner on Saturday, and came to church yesterday.

We also met with Jamie, and read a little from Alma 32 with him.

Thursday - Elder Rammell and I talked-trained on Christlike attributes in district meeting.  Then I went to Lake Placid on exchange with Elder Natrace.  He has a great spirit about him, and is so bubbly.  We had a great time talking to people all night at a public celebration and on the streets.

Saturday - Met with Shannon and CJ again.  Shannon loves to discuss things, where CJ is a little more quiet.

Sunday - We started a 3-week Preach My Gospel class, with 7 people in attendance (invited by branch president).  It went well.  We are excited to see what happens.  It is weird teaching adults AT church.  We walked the majority of the day around the church.  But, when we decided to go get our bikes, it started raining!  So we had fun in the rain.  Visited a few more people and had a great night.

I am excited for the work this week, and I hope it goes well.  I love you all.  Have fun on the lake.

Elder Shurtz

President's Weekly Message

August 8, 2011

Dear Elders and Sisters,

       There is a phrase in the “Standard of Truth” statement made by the Prophet Joseph Smith that we often quote, yet I sometimes wonder if we understand it.  It refers to one of the ways that Satan and his followers will oppose this work.  It says, “calumny may defame.”  The dictionary defines calumny as “a false statement made to injure someone’s reputation.”  Defame means to “attack the good name of; harm the reputation of; speak evil of.”  Moroni’s prophecy to the young Prophet Joseph that there would be “both good and evil spoken of [his name] among all people” (JSH 1:33) has certainly come to pass.  Unfortunately, too often the proportion of evil that is spoken seems to outweigh the good.  As a result, there is a great deal of misunderstanding about the Church and its members.  In a talk given at Harvard University by Elder Oaks, and later referenced in the Ensign (January 2011) he said, “We Latter-day Saints know that our doctrines and values are not widely understood by those not of our faith. This was demonstrated by Gary C. Lawrence’s nationwide study published in his recent book, How Americans View Mormonism. Three-quarters of those surveyed associated our Church with high moral standards, but about half thought we were secretive and mysterious and had ‘weird beliefs.’”  The Church News also referred to Brother Lawrence’s study by saying that “more Americans currently have a strongly unfavorable impression of Mormons than a strongly favorable one—by a ratio of five to one” (Church News, September 11, 2010).  It seems calumny has defamed—at least to some extent.  That is why it is so important that we “go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till [we have]… sounded [the truth] in every ear.”  The Church News article previously cited pointed out that the purpose of the mormon.org campaign is “to dispel myths about our religion [by having] Latter-day Saints speak for themselves.”  The article goes on to say, “the best way for a person to change his or her mind about the Mormons is to meet one.”  We must do all we can to engage in conversation with as many people as possible in a positive way.  We must do all we can to clarify any misunderstandings that may exist about the Church by teaching truth every opportunity we get.  We must do all we can to leave a favorable impression on those we meet.  We must do all we can to help the members of the Church do the same.  We know that “no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing,” (HC 3:30) but if the adversary is more active in spreading rumors that we are in spreading truth it will certainly slow the work.  “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren [and Sisters], let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power” (DC 123:17) to undo any calumny that may have defamed the beautiful truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and invite all to partake of its blessings.

       We congratulate the following on their baptism this week: Marlene Flanders in Albany, taught by Elders Checketts, Christensen, and Bergman;  Jayden French in Greene taught by Elders Vicchrilli, Olson, and Spencer;  Edwin and Irene Baker in Elmira, taught by Elders Call and Butler; Harley Ledbetter, taught in Carthage by Elders Nielson, Stanton, and Daniels-Brown.

       Our thoughts and prayers are with you always,

       President Bulloch

Zone Conference

This will probably be a short email.  Weather was better.  A few days of rain, and I don't think it broke 100.

Rebecca dropped us. With her handicap we think she got too scared and
stressed out.  So we are no longer teaching her.

Carin was gone this week.  We have an appointment with her on Wednesday.
Jamie and Leona STILL have not come to church! 
We seem to be cleaning our teaching pool right now.  But, we are
having a hard time filling it!

Yesterday, we gave half of the lesson during the 5th-Sunday Relief
Society/Priesthood talking about missionary work and introducing the
members to the mission plan.  We hope to have the Preach My Gospel
class going next week.

Zone Conference was amazing!  President talked about Repentance and
Pride (can you have a better zone conference than that!) :)  We had a
scripture chase.  Elder Potter was first, President Bulloch second,
then I was third.  (Is that prideful????)

We talked about how repentance is about changing.  I loved what
president put in his email this week: "We all have things we need to
change, and the “enabling power” of the grace of Christ provides us
with the “divine means of help or strength” (BD, 697) to make those
changes.  A key to making lasting change is focusing on “small and
simple things” (Alma 37:36).  President Eyring has said, “My
experience has taught me this about how people and organizations
improve: the best place to look is for small changes we could make in
things we do often” (CES address, 6 February 1998).  In other words,
improvement comes best by changing little things we do often, rather
than making drastic changes all at once."

Elder Kunzler (AP) at Zone Conference asked me how long I have been
out, and my heart sunk when I realized I have been out 14 months
tomorrow.  Time goes by fast.  Don't waste it!

I was reading in 3 Nephi this morning about the Lord blessing the
children and how he wept.  It reminded me of the question Enoch had
for the Lord when he saw Him wept:

 25And he saw angels descending out of heaven; and he heard a loud
voice saying: Wo, wo be unto the inhabitants of the earth.

 26And he beheld Satan; and he had a great chain in his hand, and it
veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and
laughed, and his angels rejoiced.

 27And Enoch beheld angels descending out of heaven, bearing testimony
of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were
caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.

 28And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue
of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How
is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain
upon the mountains?

 29And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep,
seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?

 30And were it possible that man could number the particles of the
earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning
to the number of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out
still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou
art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;

 31And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy
creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace,
justice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go
before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?

 32The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the
workmanship of mine own hands...
What great love He has for us!  Can we but come unto him and be
healed?  Can we come to grasp the depth of his understanding and
wisdom, love and devotion?

Love,
Elder Shurtz

Green Peppers, Cross-eyed Cat, and "[I'm] too cute to be Mormon"

Dear Everyone,

Time goes by so fast!  It has also been SOOOOO hot here.  It broke 100
some days (seems to be the days when we are outside almost all day
too).  We have wicked tan lines (especially our necks), and my face is
always red.  Often just stand at doors with sweat dripping down the
face (grooosss)!

We did not get to sit down with many of the people we are working
with.  Rebecca still has not come to church!  Carin, is doing awesome,
though she is gone this week on vacation.  We had an amazing lesson
with her on Thursday at the church with Brother O'Neil.  Members are
the key to missionary work!  It makes a HUGE differences when members
are involved.

We have been going out a lot into the neighborhood inviting people to
a blood drive this Thursday we are having at our church.  Last time
they only had 6 people.  We hope this works out better.

Today we made stuffed green peppers for lunch.  YUMMM!  It was good stuff.

As we were trying to contact a less-active, we both look up from the
door, and there was a cat looking at us cross-eyed!  It was the most
talented cat I have ever met!  I just give myself headaches whenever I
try to cross my eyes.

We went tracting on Tuesday a little bit on the outskirts of
Plattsburgh.  Came to this one house, with 3-4 high school/college
girls.  They were a little crazy, and when we told them we were
Mormons, one of the girls (blond coincidentally) seemed so surprised
and said "But, you're too cute to be Mormons!"  We couldn't help but laugh!

We are also regenerating the branch mission plan.  We hope it gets
rolling!  As part of it, we are going to be teaching a 3 week Sunday
school class talking about how to do missionary work.  We hope to have
the first class at the beginning of the month..

Zone Conference is this Thursday!  It is going to be intense!  I hear
President is going to 'lay it down' with the spirit.  I think Zone
Conferences are one of the best meeting we have in the church.

It sounds like a great rest of the summer is planned for everyone!  I
am a little envious of swimming, water, and jet-skis right now, so
please forgive me.  :)

Hope you all have a spiritually uplifting week!

-Elder Shurtz

Sweat for Jesus

It has been a way better week!  It has been soooo warm.  The humidity
was unbearable on Tuesday, bugs just attack us all day.  We generally
find a bug or two crawling on us at night when we sit down and plan.
Elder Rammell is still not quite use to it yet.

Thursday at district meeting, the Zone Leaders introduced us to a new
way of study.  All the companionships are getting portable DVD
players to study Preach My Gospel DVD for personal/companion study.
The church has found it improves our teaching, and is helpful for new
missionaries coming in.  In August the MTC is changing it's curriculum
to focus more on teaching skills (Called the 8 Fundamentals of
Teaching).  It was introduced to us a year ago in the mission field,
so that we could get up to speed on it when the new missionaries came
in.

Funny experience this week:  A young couple on bikes came up to us and
started talking to us.  They used to be body trainers for Hollywood actors and others.  They quit that and went to Hawaii where they filmed a work-out video centered on Jesus.  They have been traveling the world, and are now in Plattsburgh.  They call
themselves Apostles for 'Sweat for Jesus.'  Very interesting couple.
On one side of their business card they have a phrase: 'Are you Fit For God?'

We taught Rebecca on Monday, and took her on a church tour on Friday
night with Brother and Sister Judd.  She has had a lot of fear about
Churches so this was good for her.  She was going to come to church,
but she got sick that morning.  So hopefully next week.

Mary has been in Canada this past week so no real update there.

We also started teaching a Mrs. Edmund.  We will see her again this Wednesday.

Jamie and Leona still have not come to church.  I know it must be hard
with 5 kids, but I sure hope they will come!

Met with Carin on Thursday and had a great lesson on the Plan of
Salvation.  She also came to church with her two kids!  She was a
little tired with trying to keep them calm, but she keeps coming
along!

We also started teaching Nate and Marky the lessons again, which seems
like the right move.

Love you all, and hope you have a great week!

Elder Shurtz

Words of Mormon 1:7

Hello, Hello, Hello!

4th of July was great.  The picnic was fun; spent most of the time
playing volleyball.  The picture is with Diane and Eve who was
baptized my first week here.  We also started teaching this sweet 40
year-old lady.  Her name is Rebecca.  She is a little dyslexic but
loves reading from the Book of Mormon.  We hope to get her to church
this weekend.  She grew up being told by her family that Jesus did not
love her because of her handicap, and is scared to go to church.
(Luckily, our church buildings don't look like Catholic church
buildings, so hopefully that will help her)

The rest of the week was full of appointments falling through and tracting:
Nate - we couldn't meet for some reason or another.
Jamie and Leona - we saw Saturday.  Read a little from the Book of
Mormon with them, and said they would come to church.  (they did not
show up, but hopefully this Sunday).
Carin - we had to cancel because our ride fell through at the last
minute, so we wont see her till Thursday again.  But she came to
church!  We talked about Fasting in gospel principles, and apparently
she fasted last Fast Sunday.
Mary - had to cancel on us on Thursday because of some family things,
and she got strep throat Sunday morning.

Elder Rammell came out last September.  He was here for two transfers,
then went back home.  But he spent a couple of months with the
missionaries in California, near where he is from.  This transfer is
him coming back out.  He is a good missionary.  Give me another week
before I am comfortable with him; he has a little bit of pride to work
though. :)

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Shurtz

PICTURES:
-Elder Rammell on his bike
-The lake we wanted to jump into as we were riding along side it.
-Diane and Eve Seals.  They were baptized my first week here.
-Elder Bradley (senior missionary) playing horse shoes at the picnic.
-Amanda.  Member of the branch we visit.
-Mary is the girl to the right.  Karin is her friend, and daughter of
the mission leader.  Elder Perkins.  Sammee, another friend.