Sister Shurts: Wir Sind Zehn!

Wir sind Zehn!

That was my favorite quote of the week. Yesterday I got to skype my family. Oh my word... I thought it was hard waiting for christmas when I was little- this is nothing in comparison! I sat there and watched the clock tick by all day long. It was so fun to see everyone, and it reminded me once again why I am on a mission. As I saw all their faces and spoke with them- I thought about just how much I miss each and every one of them. In fact I talk about them all the time- when we are on subways or busses or trains, and usually the person asks, "well, don't you miss them" and I always answer. Well of course! But I see my family, and I see what has made us so close. And that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it makes it so much easier to be away from home with the knowledge that I can give that joy to another family.

The rest of this week was also full of miracles. After a month of not being able to contact one of our investigators, Frau Hellhammer. We had the thought to try again. We had first wanted to drop off flowers by a lady who had a birthday today...but she wasn't home. So we decided to bring the flowers to Frau Hellhammer... and so we klingled... and the door buzzed open!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I was so nervous and my heart was pounding so loud! We stood there for a second pretty awkward and then she let us in and we sat down and started talking to her. Pretty quickly we realized that she had just been really busy lately, and that her life has been crazy... (too busy for your baptism? haha oh well, I can't judge) We could have just sat down, given a thought and left. But I looked around and the Spirit prompted me that the best lesson we could teach today was one of service. So I rolled up my sleeves and asked here where I should start cleaning. She was SO grateful for the help! So we spent the next hour vacuming, cleaning, folding laundry and listening to black gospel music! haha I was so happy as we walked out that door, that I shed tears of joy. I know that God has heard the many prayers that I have prayed for her in the last 4 weeks! God cares about each and every one of his children.

At the end of my skype call I asked my family to sing "Wo die Liebe Wohnt" which is when there's love at home in English. Listening to them sing that brought tears of joy to my eyes. I am so grateful for a loving parents who have taught me by their example and testimony. When we choose to love those around us, we can have peace in our hearts and joy in our eyes!