Rain

Thunder storms, sunshine and rain

This week the weather was all over the place, we had sun and fog and thunder storms; but I have to admit my favorite was the rain.

Oregonian to the heart. Yesterday we went running along to river and halfway through it began to pour. We were both soaked through! And it was glorious-it reminded me of all those mornings going running with Kiana and mom, or all those cross country meets were we were drenched by the end of the race. There is something cleansing and beautiful about rain. It brings life and freshness and joy. Let's face it... Who doesn't enjoy jumping in puddles?

I needed that feeling this week. It has been a week full of sunshiny miracles but also distressing thunderstorms... Ending with cleansing rain.

As for the miracles... God showed me how to reach out to others even when I didn't really feel like doing that at all. He gave me words of comfort to speak to strangers on busses and on trains. He helped me to turn out and see others who were struggling. As for thunderstorms I guess that would just be me wanting to be home with my family for the funeral, and to share my love and support with them all. And to be able to be a part of hearing and sharing all the memories of my grandmother.

But like I said, it ended in cleansing rain. And that was today- today I felt the cleansing power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. He was there for me, He is there for me. Wherever we are in our lives He is there to lift us. It may be painful, and it may hurt. But I testify that it is always the right decision to turn to Him.

With love

Sister Shurts

Father's Day

The quorum of the twelve apostles said, "of all the titles of respect
and honor and admiration that are given to deity, He has asked us to
address Him as Father."
With Father's Day yesterday I was able to think a lot about my dad.
And how grateful I am for him and for the man he is. I received the
news this week that grandma Shurts passed away- which was quite a
shock. Actually it was devastating. But I've spent a lot of time
thinking about what grandma has done for me. And I have come to the
conclusion that she gave me one of the greatest gifts possible. She
raised my dad. If there is one thing in this world that I treasure the
most it is my family-and dad has always been the quiet leader. what I
love and cherish in my father I owe to a wonderful and dedicated
grandmother. It is going to be hard to be out here in Germany through
all of this-in fact a large part of me wishes that I could be home
right now.

But there is something keeping me here. And that is the knowledge that
I have a father in heaven who I owe everything to, my family, my home,
my faith... Truly everything. On this Father's Day I wish I could be
home to support my family, but I am doing all that I can for them here
in Germany, serving my Hather in Heaven.

This week we had transfers and Sister Wahlquist and

 I are staying together for another 6 weeks
here in Heidelberg. I am really grateful for that because I still
don't feel that comfortable with the area yet (too many different
trains and busses and streetcars to memorize!!!!) We had several
miracles this week which helped me to realize that I am here for a
specific reason. We met a woman on a streetcar and found out she had
visited Utah before and looooved it-we asked if we could come by but
only got a street name and last name before we had to jump off.
However the lack of information did not dissuade us- we proceeded to
knock that whole street a couple days later and found her!! She was so
happy to see us and proceeded to tell about her adventures in Salt
Lake City- and how complete strangers invited her over and welcomed
her. (Quick note to all you guys, never hesitate to invite someone
over, you never know what kind of a lasting impact it will have on
that individual, or on some sister missionary serving in Germany in
the future) anyways long story short this woman was so touched that we
came by she invited us over again :)

I sure love and miss you all, I wish I could be there with you right
now, and give you all hugs and feel your love. But I guess it will
just have to wait eight more months.

All my love
Sister Shurts

A day in the life of a Sister in Heidelberg

It has been another fun packed week here in Heidelberg as a Sister Training Leader. But I wouldn't have it any other way! We have been on a lot of splits with the sisters in our two zones- and that makes the weeks go by very quickly. I love being able to work with so many sisters- Seriously I am learning so much from them all :) Especially Sister Wahlquist. She is so amazing. This week we were talking a lot about how we can become one as a companionship- We talked about how as we both come closer to christ, we will come closer to eachother. The thing that I love about sister Wahlquist is that as opposed to some girls who stay up late talking about boys, or drama, or movies... we stay up late sometimes talking about the gospel.

Since I know I've been slacking a bit on the emails I thought I would give you all a rund down of a day in the life of Sister Shurts in Heidelberg...

1. Wake up- go on a run along the river or up to the castle

2. Get ready- shower, breakfast, get dressed (sister Wahlquist and I have joint closets... which makes getting dressed a joy- we have a closet for both of our skirts/dresses and a closet for both of our blouses/sweaters)

3. Studies- This week I have been studying a lot about christ- because I am giving a talk/leading a discussion at Zone Conference- I have learned so much about how we can do little things each day to become more like him. The theme of it is the Attributes of Jesus Christ.

4. Out the Door!! -  We normally have to run to catch a train- which is pretty close to our apartment. If we have extra time we stop by a small Kiosk (little store) and talk to the Turkish man who owns it- He always tries to give us free food and tell us how he wants to live in the mountains and become a hermit because he hates people...

5. Appointments-  We then take the many trains and busses and street cars as we are running to and from appointments with people- and talking to people as we go to and fro.
6. Grab some delicious Italian Gelato :) just because

7. Splits (companion Exchange)- We have at least 2 a week! So usually in the late afternoon or evening we take a 1-2 hour train ride to split with another pair of sisters.

8. Home- we plan eat something and talk a little bit and then fall into bed in delightful exhaustion. :)

What I have learned the most this week is that our personal motivation to follow christ must come from our heart. As much as I want to to give someone else a part of my excitment- it needs to come from themselves. As for our work here in Heidelberg we have meet with many people. We have had a hard time getting in contact with Rahil- but we are also planning on having a lot of appointments this week with new investigators!!!

SOO EXCITED!!!

I love you all!!!

Sister Shurts

Some missionaries in our area getting together to play some frisbee on a P-Day

Scenes from Heidelberg

Our kitchen Flooded... so we had to do dishes in our tub

Sister Wahlquist and I get all ready for sunday night call ins!

High Hopes for HeidelbergSister Jackson and I on a split

That moment your so busy doing missionary work you accidentally forget that you reached your halfway mark like 2 weeks ago! Probably because we were so busy trying to carry huge bookshelves home on trains and street cars all by ourselves! We have bruises on our arms... Love missionary life. On the plus side we were able to talk to a lot of people who were asking if they could help. Or because we set a BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!!

Well dear all, this week has been amazing. Heavenly Father sure knows how to keep me on my toes. The best part of the week was on Tuesday.

We started meeting with a girl last week who was very interested in learning more about the church. Her name is Rahil and she just radiates her love of God. On Tuesday as we met with her we taught the message of the restoration of the gospel. She was amazed and told me that she knew that what we were teaching was true! Then after just knowing her for a week we committed her to be baptized at the end of this month. She was a little surprised but after a moment and with tears in her eyes she said yes.

I was also able to go on several splits this week, one of them with the amazing sister Helmick!! It was so fun to work with her. Being with her for 24 hours just proved what I already knew. She is an amazing missionary and has truly put her whole heart into this work. I love going on splits with these sisters. I have so much to learn from all of them.

I have thought a lot about desire and how we can create the desire to follow Christ. And the more I thought about it the more I realized that we cannot do it ourselves. That we need to rely on Christ to have that desire to do missionary work. We must ask him. I am so proud of my brother dallin for getting his mission call. You are gonna rock it in Brazil bro. :) All the best. I love you all

Sister shurts

Sister Jackson and I on a split

Sister Wahlquist poses while we try and fit new bookshelves into our apartment

Our Elders here in Heidelberg stop by for some icecream... punks

Sister Helmick and I get to go on a split together!!!

And happy birthday paps! :)