Sister Durtschi is now ASHLEY

Hey Yall! 

Well this is it...my last mass email! Idk what yall will do without reading these things! haha take an extra 5 minutes to sleep or something else besides read sister durtschi's crazy life stories! But anyways...

My last week as a missionary....................................................... I really dont like the sound of that....but i do like the sound of not having to write crazy emails and actually getting to talk to yall! haha but anyways this week was crazy busy! We were running from one appointment to the next. LEGIT running out the door to our car and driving as fast as possible with a TiWi and running to that door. NEVER BEEN SOOO BUSY! 

Monday we spent Halloween at the Ishee's with all of their friends:) Went trick or treating with on a hay ride! So much fun here...mainly cuz its still WARM! We also did a surprise district bday party for Anderson! Cake and Ice Cream! SOOO good! First goodbye of the week...J.J. Ishee! HARDEST GOODBYE YET AND IT WAS THE FIRST ONE!!!! (It was a hard week!)

Tuesday was chaos! It was sister andersons birthday and oh was she in for a day! I texted everyone we knew beforehand and asked them to send birthday wishes and if we were seeing them to sing happy birthday to her. EVERYONE here went above and beyond! I think we ate 3 cakes in 3 hours! haha (not eating cake for the rest of the year!) But so much fun, we spent the whole morning pickin pecans for a member and then had lunch(aka thanksgiving) with them and they got a huge cake. Then we saw some nonmembers and did some service for them. Then went to the Balch's for "service" as sister anderson thought and we had a bday party for her with MORE cake! Then we went to dinner with Sister B. and had another feast and had EVEN MORE cake! Then went to see a less active family to say bye...ok, all of these are gonna be see ya laters, cuz GOODBYES are NOT fun!

Wednesday was MY LAST DISTRICT MEETING EVER! Saddest day ever! We went to dinner with the Balch's and then had branch council and was informed again that this sunday would be my last sunday and man did that just make my heart break a little bit and made me realize that this is really coming to an end.

Thursday was another day of saying bye:( man this isnt fun! I have really REALLY come to love the people here!

Friday we went to see the Mannings:) LOVE THEM! spent 5 hours answering questions and talking and just awesome things! Was the best thing ever! Then we went and had dinner with the Parnell's:) LOVE SOUTHERN COOKIN! Then we went to see their kids new "house" which is actually a SCHOOL BUS that they took all the seats out of and have made it the coolest looking thing on the plantet, when I get home, yall can see the video of it! ITS SOO COOL! 

Saturday I started packing...but wasnt to happy bout that so i kinda stopped after a while, cuz my heart was breaking! So we went and saw some people and said bye and then we went to a birthday party with a part member family and oh how i love more CAKE! lol 

Sunday we went to church and it was the SADDEST DAY EVER! Final goodbyes and testimonies. This branch has changed my outlook on life and what is really important and it just broke my heart! The branch threw me a little party after church and gah Im just going to miss everyone down here! 

Yall, I just want to take a second and tell everyone from my mission...THANK YOU! I could NOT have done these 18 months without yall! Yall have changed my life for the better and Im soooo grateful for the examples yall have been to me! Thanks for all the laughs and great memories! Please keep in touch and let me know if I can do anything, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING! (if ya want my number email me and ill let ya know!) I LOVE YALL SOOOOOOOOO MUCH! Thanks for everything!

Family and friends from home, thanks for all the love and support the last year and a half! I have never felt so much the power from prayer as I have as a missionary, as soon as i felt down, i knew one of yalls prayers were lifting me up, so thanks for EVERYTHING! Cant wait to see yall! LOVE YOU!  

Toodles my noodles! LOVE YALL!
Sister Durtschi

The squad!

We all really LOVE each other!

The Mannings!:)

Hey Yall!

"Just some housekeeping items" as President Olson would say...

For anyone wondering. I fly into Idaho Falls Nov 9th at 6pm. My homecoming talk will be given Nov 20th at 11am in Carey. Love to see yall there! 

So we had a party at the camp with the Ishees on Monday that was lots of fun. Played volleyball and hung out a little bit. I just love the Ishees! 

We went to a dinner appointment with a family that we have been working with, and they made mexican food. So they made like enchilada casserole in two different pans. One was oober spicy and one was mild...so they asked us what one we wanted, Andy says "i want hot" and of couse I say "i want mild with lots of sour cream please!" so then we sit down at the table to eat...and they got our plates mixed up, so I ATE THE HOT ONE! OH MY I WAS DYING! I dont eat spicy stuff...even those hot Cheetos are too hot for me! So i ate it like a champ and then Andy turns to me after we leave and said, man that thing wasnt even hot. I was like cuz you ate mine! It had sour cream all over that thing! haha we had a big laugh after that one! Then we went for round TWO with this family...and it happened AGAIN! I think next time ill just learn to bring a gallon of milk with me! 

Do yall remember a while back I sent out an email saying we found a CAMEL in MISSISSIPPI? well while i was without a voice, sister anderson tracted the same street AGAIN! (4th time in 3 transfers its been tracted) and the house with the camel answered! Yall this FAMILY(the Mannings) is the greatest thing ever! I've never taught anyone with so many questions and just wanting to learn soo much! They are amazing! They are big farmers and are taking us fishing in their catfish pond all day thursday and as they said "we'll talk bout Jesus feeding the 5,000 with fish and us eating fish and then talk bout mormons! I cant wait to be a mormon!" The Lord always prepares a way for His work! 

Saturday...I GOT MY TRUNKY PAPERS! for anyone that doesnt know what these are...its got your flight info and things your mission president needs for your final interview...IM NOT READY TO GO HOME! I STILL HAVE SO MUCH TO DO! (like baptize the nation!) haha but I cant wait to see yall either! 

Sunday we had the primary program and it was a flippin blast! 4 kids and chaos all around but we made it work! We finished the program with bout 15 minutes left and so sister Balch the primary president said "im putting sister durtschi on the spot, but since next week is fast and testimony we wont get to hear from her, so we're gonna let her say a quick farewell talk....OH MAN THE TEARS STARTED FLOWING...and yall i DONT cry! So that was torture because I looked up and everyone was crying and man this is going to be a rough week of goodbyes! I also had to teach Gospel Doctrine again...man thats a great class...but idk why they have a 20 year old girl teaching it when they have lots of "older" people with more experience! Oh well it went well! 

Yall I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is Gods work, this is His glory, and He loves us! He can do ALL things! He is our friend, family, EVERYTHING! Always remember that when you having a hard time, let God know! He cares! I know God is ever mindful of us and our circumstances and want to help! He is in charge of our lives, we strive to do it ourselves as the natural man does, but this is Gods plan! He gives us the choice to choose and He helps us in that choosing process. Man I cant talk enough about God and His love for us! Just keep that in mind this week as we come to understand Him more! 

I love yall! See ya soon!

Sister Durtschi

GUMBO for the FIRST TIME

Hey Yall!

Fall is here! FINALLY! I love the fall weather! It makes everything here look sooo pretty! Kinda like Idaho...but not as cold! Its still in the 80's here! Im in heaven! Except for at nights...its getting cold and it makes it harder to get up when its cold! 

Monday we went and washed the McLain's car! then they fed us pizza! Man do I love the southerners! They know how to eat and keep eating! 

Tuesday we had exchanges and DM because the zonies wanted to come to our DM...so I got to be with the wonderful amazing Sister GOLDER again! I love her! Had a blast from the past! We stayed up forever and a day talking about life! I love her...if ya cant tell! We also had an awesome time at the Ishee's! I love them too!

Wednesday we swapped back, we had a lovely trip to Oak Grove to swap. Then we came home and had dinner at the Balch's and then Branch Council. I love all my family out here! I wish i could pack them all up and bring them home so yall could meet them all! They are the hoots to life! 

Thursday was BUSY! but I had the most spiritual experience that happened in my entire mission! While i was sick last week my comp and a member went out and tracted this street. Well they ran into someone and shared a scripture and got a return appointment, well we had to move things around and well...he ended up passing away on Friday and we went over there, not know that it was him that everyone in town was talking about. She opened right up and told us she was so sad and trying to stay busy...YALL what do you say to help someone you just met that lost their best friend...(ask the missionaries, and luckily i'm one!) YOU say God loves us soooo much that He gave us a way to see our loved ones again. She loved it, and felt so much at peace and as we finished the lesson, she asked me to say the prayer...most sincere prayer I have ever said in my life! I loved this lady and I didnt even know her! I think thats how Christ and Heavenly Father feel about us! Cept for the fact that they already know us. So much to learn from in all of our experiences of life!

Friday was weekly planning, so a pretty boring day, but i did get a call from SISTER MAUGHAN! She called to just wish me a happy 18 month mark! I love this girl! I sure will miss all my friends out here!

Saturday...EIGHTEEN MONTHS of being a missionary! WHAT! I never thought this day would come! Its kind of bitter sweet actually! But it all works out in the long run. We had a branch activity which consisted of Gumbo, and more GUMBO, and did I mention GUMBO!  Yall i went a whole 18 months and had never had GUMBO! Its the bestest thing on the planet! Its kinda like a soup that you put over rice, with lots of delicious scrumptious things in it! But the activity was lots of fun and was a great way to spend time with a lot of the people there.

Sunday, well we dont have many people that come to church, which means we help out a lot. We dont have anyone to play piano or lead music. Well we have a less active that LOVES to play the piano so we have been working hard to get him to come play! He's come a few weeks now and is helping us in our primary program next week! So excited cuz he came back for 1 and 2. that we wont have a primary program with the computer blasting the songs. Other than that not much happened sunday tho.

So I gave yall pretty much what happened in my week...but the funny stories for the week come from right outside our house! When I was on exchanges and talking on the phone to Sister Maughan. Both times I was on the phone with my favorites and man oh man funniest thing. When I was on exchanges we had a GIANT possum that was fixin to walk across the road when suddenly this 18 wheeler comes cruisin by and squashed it! ahhhh we both were screamin in the car while we were just parked outside our house talking to the zl's. Then when i was on the phone with sister maughan and this cat start walking across the road and boom this car comes out of no where! GAHH idk what it is with road kill, but apparently they like getting squashed when i'm outside talking on the phone! 

Sorry this email is all over the place but this week has been crazy and I guess my mind is still on crazy mode! But I LOVE YALL! and cant wait to see yall soon! 

LOVE YALL!

Sister Durtschi

Laryngitis = Not A Missionary

Hey yall!

Man oh man has this been a crazy week! So Monday was pretty lame, had to get a Book of Mormon back and I kept saying like "are you sure you want us to take this? Its got so many things in it that will change your life!" "yes, lady, I DONT WANT IT NEAR ME!" so that was a rough one, but then this week got even better. 

Tuesday I woke up with a really really bad sore throat, but I wasnt missing out on my LAST zone meeting so we went, also we had to go cause our district was singing (which sounded horrible cuz yall know I dont sing...and well...yeah it wasnt to good...but everyone is just nice and says its sounds good) So I got to see a lot of friends and have some fun with them all before I leave the MJM. We had a really REALLY good sermon by Elder Vest about giving our whole 5 loaves of bread, because then the Lord can feed 5,000 with it! Gah it was soo good! "Why are you in that area, instead of Jesus Christ? He's WAY better than you are! So why are you there? Jesus Christ can do anything, so why does He keep you there?" Just some food for thought!

Wednesday I woke up and my voice was sooo bad! No one would even want to be around us cuz i sounded so bad. So we sat around and made cookies and studied. 

Thursday we went on splits because I still sounded like crap. So I spent the day with the Ishees, and Sister Anderson went to be with Sister B. Legit spent from 7:00 am to 9:00pm with these people. Sister Anderson is a brave soul as Sister B. is 84 and is losing her mind, but they tracted for EIGHT HOURS in one day! Yall thats insane! So they had a party while I partied at the Ishees.

Friday...MY VOICE WAS GONE! nothing, nada, zilch, Luckily its weekly planning day so we spend most of it inside anyways. but still IM A MISSIONARY! WE USE OUR VOICES TO CRY REPENTANCE! so I was sad, but the mission nurse called and idk how she even knew, but said i had LARYNGITIS and Im not allowed to speak for a couple days....so that was a fun party. We also had some ALASKA Missionaries call us because a part member family just moved here that we've been teaching and they called to check up on them, that was cool! 

Saturday we went on splits again because well i still sounded like crap. Sister Anderson went out with Judy and Punk and saw some less actives, while I died with Sister Balch who was sick as well. 

Sunday, we went to church and I still sounded bad so everyone would run and hide from me. We went tracting and helped the Prices moved all this furniture stuff out of a Uhaul. 

Today....still have no voice but luckily its pday and yall dont need to hear me:) haha but I did want to tell yall something...LEAD BY EXAMPLE! Sometimes you dont get to tell everyone what you believe and what church youre from and everything else...but one thing i do know is that if you lead by example and are always wanting to help and be nice...people like talking to you and like being around you! ONE DAY they may ask what you believe, but till then, be an example! I know yall do this as EACH ONE OF YOU is an example to me! I look up to yall sooo much! Keep being that AMAZING example! 

LOVE YALL! See ya in 3 weeks!

Sister Durtschi

TAEATAFA!

ADAMS!

TENIFA AND PAXTON!

My Plan = TRUNKY

Hey yall!

So i'm having to do a thing called My Plan...which pretty much just makes you trunky your last 6 weeks. It prepares ya for going home and what your goals and aspirations are....well yall.... GGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..Thats all i have to say bout it, because well i have no clue! When yall think of anything to do with Sister Durtschi, if you could let me know, i would deeply appreciate it...because I dont know what I'm going to do with my life!

Sister Anderson and I have been rippin and runnin all over the place! Monday was pretty lame as for pday we did NOTHING...aka slept for 4 hours (missionary dream!) but was sad, cause i want to turn up these last 5 weeks. so today were going to a cotton field! (just like in greenville....but not in greenville)

We had district meeting on wednesday where we spent most of the time practicing a song that we have to sing for ztm. Then we talked about what we learned from conference and what we've been studying. That was a fun DM. Then had to go to Firestone for our car AGAIN! cuz yall our car is a mess! So we spent a couple hours there. Then came to a members house to eat dinner with our investigator. but the gator didnt show. So we had a good dinner and testimony meeting of the restoration. 

Thursday we had interviews with President Olson and area book interviews with Sister Olson! My oh my was it weird having my last normal interview with him, before my final interview! Its sad to think that things are almost over! I DONT WANT IT TO END! President pretty much just gave me a SISTER DURTSCHI PEP TALK to finish strong.lol 

Yall I cant tell you enough what it means to feel the spirit. Not just the missionary spirit (because you do feel it different as a missionary) but the Holy Ghost in general. We get promptings all the time! We get thoughts in our heads, feelings in our hearts, things to do or not do. We are always being watched out for! Think about this for a second....out of all the people on the planet, He is watching out for YOU! YOU as an individual! YOU as a son or daughter of God! He wants the best for YOU!  So He sends you some awesome help! Follow that help! 

LOVE YALL! See ya in a MONTH!

Sister Durtschi

Gotta love friends on the mission:)

This thing tried eating me!!!!

New Comp, New Transfer

Hey Yall!

So Sister Hope headed to Monroe, and I got SISTER ANDERSON! which is crazy because she was just in Wake Village with Sister Scott! So we had a lot in common from the get go! Its been oober fun! 

Sand Hill is going places yall! aka everyone is moving out because there is nothing here...but we still have lots of doors to knock on! So please pray we'll find someone to teach in all the door knocking! 

General Conference was AMAZING! lots on missionary work and repentance! Who woulda thunk! A missionary does both those things...so lots to relate to on my end. I hope yall enjoyed it and got some answers to some questions yall had tho! 

Sorry this is short, but got to run! I love yall lots and hope you know how amazing it is to hear from a prophet and his apostles on the earth today! Study the words they shared with us lots! They will help you in your everyday lives!

Love Yall!
Sister Durtschi

Sister Maughan at the Camp

Miller, Maughan, and I at Tpoint

Bonfire in Mississippi in SEPTEMBER #unheardof

Transfer Thirteen in SANDHILL

Hey Yall!

CRAZY WEEK! Exchanges, the ER, tracting in RICHTON, and soooo much more! I cant even tell yall how crazy its been! 

First off, transfer calls came this morning and Ill be dying in Sandhill! i have mixed feelins about this being my last transfer, but I'm excited for whats all gonna happen! Sister Hope though will be leaving. So I will have a new companion. yall will find out next week who that is to be! 

So Monday thru Wednesday we went on exchanges with the STL's again:) I was able to go with the amazing Sister Golder again in Oak Grove! Well when we swapped comps on monday i gave sister hope our phone and well sister Ali-Savory forgot to give sister Golder their phone. So we were phoneless...until we had a knock on the door that night and a member that had dinner with the sisters was coming to oak grove that night and just decided to drop it off for us....well she did and brought us SHAKES! yall first tender mercy for the night! Well this was also a LONG night, cuz well we also had to go to the ER because of an ANT BITE! so the ants here are crazy weird..they are poisionous and sometimes cause problems if youre allergic. Well i've gotten many ant bites and i've dealt with them...well this one...my whole foot swole up and was making my toes purple and it was too hot to touch, so I put my foot to Golders leg and she thought i touched her with a flat iron...Long story short, we spent SIX HOURS waiting in the ER, just so the doctor could say "might be a spider bite, just keep it elevated and take benadryl." and then he walked out....we didnt get home till bout 5 that morning. great fun! lol Gotta love exchanges!

We finally got the go ahead to tract in Richton! They didnt get rid of the city ordinance but they arent listening to the lawers of the church, so they said we can go ahead and tract...IF I GET ARRESTED...YALL KNOW WHY! (plus that would be the coolest mission story yet!)

Sorry dont have much longer, but I just want to say...YALL ARE THE BEST! MAKE THIS WEEK AWESOME! 

Love yall!

Sister Durtschi

Paxton #TexarLife

Boehme is going HOME

Stevens! <3 them!

FINAL TESTIMONY

Hey Yall! 

This email is gonna be a bit different from others....TESTIMONY TIME!

Wow! This week was a mix of emotions! I have never felt so many changes in the way i feel in a single day in my entire life! THIS IS WEIRD! The reason being is that we had zone conference this week, which I LOVE zone conferences! They are like mini general conferences! Well we have them every other transfer. At the end of the super spirit packed meeting we hear FINAL TESTIMONIES from those going home either that transfer or the next one (until the next zone conference) YALL! THAT MEANT I HAD TO GIVE MY FINAL TESTIMONY! I AM NOT (NOOOOOOOT) READY TO GO HOME! (mom i love you and i cant wait to see yall...but i cant leave mississippi or my friends here yet!) So yeah lots of mixed emotions...but it was good:) I talked about how we came out here to help people feel the love of God and become converted to His gospel. Well by the end of your mission, YOU are the greatest convert from your mission! You grow in ways you never would have before! It was such a spiritual experience! I will never ever regret coming on a mission! I LOVE IT WITH ALL OF MY HEART! (if yall remember back home i was a blubber baby! I cried about everything, mom you would be proud that I have only cried 5 times on my mission, and I DIDNT cry during my final testimony! I think im finally growing up!)  But really if you are even thinking about going on a mission...JUST DO IT! the most amazing thing you could do for others and yourself! You will never come to love so many different people in a year and a half to two years than you will on your mission! Greatest thing ever! 

Missions though are not the easiest, as my greenie companion would tell you "it sucks!" Missions are one of the hardest things, and idk why they are even so hard! Actually i do know, its because you come to love these people so much and you want them happy but they just dont do the things you/God want them to do so then it makes you sad and yeah...anyways missions are rough. You have to get up at 6:30 EVERY DAY! NO OFF DAYS! You study for 2 hours. You then go out in 100 degree weather for 10 hours and try and just talk to people. Now if you dont have people skills or dont know how to communicate very well...then mission life is a lot harder! I wish before my mission i would have talked more to people and gotten to know random things about people. That would have been the best help! But also some people have dealt with homesickness (which luckily i havent so dont really know the cure), but try leaving people you know for a bit and go somewhere without them. Every missionary has different problems! I promise we all have one...actually MANY!

ONE of the biggest things i've learned as a missionary is...MISSIONARIES ARE SCARED TOO! I remember back home when the missionaries would come teach lessons or give talks and what not - they weren't nervous or hesitant about anything...HA THATS FUNNY! cuz we are always that way! You never know whats gonna happen, whats gonna go on that day, what you are gonna do about so and so, your most progressing investigator doesnt want to see you anymore, how you are gonna fill the rest of the day as you have tried everyone and their dog by 12:30. You just are always trying to go go go go GO! Sometimes you just think, man this would be easier if I had an IPad #OneDayMJM or I just want to go home and sleep. 

BUT GUESS WHAT!?! I have never seen SOOOO many miracles in my entire life! Its those little miracles that make all those hardships, and problems, and crazy things totally worth soaking in every second of every day and LOVING IT! Heres a few that my mission has shown me

1. A child prayed as we were all in the car and were running out of gas and didnt know how much farther we could go. All of us adults didnt know what to do and the little girl said we need to pray and thats when i realized I did NOT have the faith of a child. She prayed and yall, we made it to the gas station. They put $10 in the car and the gas light was still on and said it was low! 

2.Anytime ANYONE actually reads the Book of Mormon! I know its totally simple (its reading scripture) BUT it hardly ever happens! I've given out idk how many books and in return have had 19 actually read from it! Thats a miracle

3. People have come back to church after years of not being in church!

4. Members become missionary minded and see the change in others and it makes them happier.

5. The light switch cutting on when an investigator finally understands a little bit of what we are telling them.

6.Your testimony grows everyday with the people you meet!

7. Getting grits thrown at your face and it turning into one of the most powerful lessons because of the Saviors love.

8. Not planning for a lesson because we felt that we just need to listen to our investigator, and we both were so overcome with the spirit and taught exactly what he needed to hear in that time of need.

9. Tracting in the rain, normally isnt the greatest, but finding those truly prepared makes all the difference...because they are referrals from God when we find them tracting!

10. Turning every situation into a learning situation! I can not tell you enough how many times just talking to friends and random strangers has made me learn more about my savior than anything else in my entire life! Alma 1:26:)

These are just a few and I could go on for days, but i just dont have time. Yall a mission really is a miracle and it really is the best! Yes its hard and I dont want yall thinking "wow, seems like so much fun!" which yes it is fun, but it is HARD! The best piece of advice that i could give you would be to remember, LIFE IS HARD! If you are always thinking of the hardship and troubles and what nots that make it hard you will only see bad and negative things. If you STRIVE for the positive and umplifting times, and CHOOSE to remember them...you will forever and ever be grateful for always thinking of the bright side. You will see MORE blessings and miracles because YOU CHOSE TO SEE IT! It ALL comes down to how you see things! 

Yall are amazing and I'm soooo grateful for each and every single one of your examples! Please never forget how amazing and extravagant you are to me! I LOVE YOU! 

Sister Durtschi

Miracles Through Referrals!

Hey Yall!

First off shout out to MYRNA UNDERWOOD! Today is her YEAR MARK of being a member! I'm soooo happy she let me be part of her journey and cant wait to come back and see her! LOVE YOU MYRNA! 

This week was CRAZY yall! Monday was spent at the Ishees for a district pday! Gah I love them! Tuesday we had specialized training with President Olson and then we were able to double work Petal Sisters area so...i got to be with one of my homies Sister MAUGHAN! (shes an all-star!) We stayed up all night talking Tuesday and we also played soccer Wednesday morning (5:30 is waaaay to early for sister durtschi normally, but i already had no sleep!lol) with some of the peeps in the zone:) Then we had DM and then exchanges with the STL's. I went back to Sand Hill with Sister Golder! Oh my lanta do I love that girl! She has a big heart and just loves to listen and work hard! Stayed up that whole night talking too. (Sister durtschi just wont get sleep this week!) Then changed back Thursday. The rest of the week was just bout normal. We did do some tracting in Sand Hill tho, so that was fun! (we still cant tract in Richton because of the city ordinance still in affect.)

Let me take a sec to talk about referrals...we have been living off of them! Since we cant tract thats all we have to be able to talk to people in Richton. Well Saturday was a special day! Why? BECAUSE WILLIE GRACE WAS BAPTIZED! He was a referral from our recent converts and well, now hes a recent convert! Anyways...Willie Grace was baptized Saturday! Was so much fun! I dont think i've ever had so little people at a baptism (because its a branch) BUT the spirit was there and thats what matters! (plus we had some real good food(; ) Willie was confirmed a member and was given the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday! Was amazing as well! Had to speak sunday too. Guess what topic...you got it....MISSIONARY WORK!  

Funny story of the week: So no one in the branch plays the piano. I've played a couple times since sister scott left, but anyone that knows me, knows I CANT PLAY! So we just push the button on the piano to play the songs. (my kind of piano) Well yesterday we were fixin to sing the opening song and the lady pushing the button couldnt get it to work. It would play for a second and then stop. I was already up and ready to lead our GIANT choir. Since it was awkward standing there, i started doing this stupid little dance. Oh my the branch just busted a gut laughing at the "darndest things sister durtschi does." lol I love this branch and all the fun stories they will have from my craziness:) 

Yall this week has been full of ups and downs, but guess what, God WANTS it like that! If everything was perfect in our lives we wouldnt know joy from sorrow, kindness from mean, and love from hatred. We have to have both in order to see and feel Gods love. Just because we go through these things doesnt mean He's not aware of us and what were going through, It just means we are growing! In Alma 26:11-12 we learn that we must boast of our God and not in ourselves, for we are nothing without Him! Please remember that! No matter what...HE HAS YOUR BACK! 

Sorry this was a long one! So much happened this week tho! 

I love yall soooooo much! Miss yall even more! 

Sister Durtschi

Soccer District:)
Maughan, Miller, Hill, Brinton, Me, Hope

Baptism pics with the ishees:)

And again...the Ishees:)

Mississippi's Heat is Almost Gone...ALMOST!

Hey Yall!

So this week was a little slower than last week, but that doesnt mean we dont have FUN! It just means we get to have more time to find random activities to do:)

We had a great pday with the Petal sisters (sister Maughan and Miller). As we just hung out and got to know em a bit better:) Then we had dinner at the Ishee's. I LOVE THEM!

Tuesday we had DM because the zone leaders (Elder Bailey and Blair) are trying to make it to everyones district meetings, so they changed us to a Tuesday...wasnt to bad BUT it throws off our week, cuz its not the normal schedule of things. Elder Hill gave a great lesson on our purpose and why we do the things we do, with the time that we have as missionaries (they all always look at me when they bring up time is short...idk why?(; ) 

Wednesday we had to be at the church for WILLIE! Willie is gonna be baptized this week on Saturday:) So we had to have a baptismal interview with President Silas (councilor to pres olson) at the church. They are sooo nice, they brought us all lunch and we all just had a party. We then went to find some less actives:) 

Thursday and Friday, was the days of sickness. IDK what it was but dang, those were not fun days:/ 

Saturday we went less active hunting again in a town 40 miles away, found some really cool stories with lots of cool people! I love being a missionary and learning from others!

Sundays are the best days! We got to go to church and have two investigators there! then we went to see a less active that is trying to get her life back on the right road, by first helping herself feel the spirit! How cool! Please pray for her! 

Monday we spent at the Ishee's camp for a district pday! Oh my sooo much fun! We all sat around and showed pictures of home and videos of our crazy lives. Then played some volleyball...and well its Mississippi so we played volleyball in a rainstorm after a bit:) Best way to play volleyball. LOVE Mississippi and the crazy things we do here, but especially the BANANA PUDDING!

Funny story of the week: We went to a Less Actives house who told us they had been playing in the river behind the house and as they were playing...A DEAD COW floats by! haha we died of laughter at that one! He said they still sat and played on the bank! Haha I LOVE THE SOUTH! 

Yall I love you lots! I know God has a purpose and plan for EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HAPPENS! You may not know now...but you will one day as to why you are going through those things! Pray to Him and He will help you! 

LOVE YALL!
Sister Durtschi

Elders Baptism in Hattiesburg

Our district + the Ishees

Doodle and us:)

Butt Dialed Tracting

Hey Yall!

What a week! Time goes by and well here we are again...emailing:) I'm sure yall are sick of these mass emails by now...but hold on, only a few more to go:) 

Tuesday we went to a town south of us called Beaumont and guess what? WE TRACTED! Well we live kinda in the middle of no where, but we get cell phone service in Richton, but we dont anywhere else....so I had text Doodle Ishee to let her know where we were and if we didnt text her by tonight, to come find us (cuz well ya never know what will happen, we could get stuck in the mud for heavens sake) (if ya have any questions bout that ask Sister Scott)  well i just put the phone in my bag and we went off...well I guess i accidentally called her while we were walking...so they just stayed on the line! They didnt cut it off! THEY HEARD ALL OF OUR CONVERSATIONS! IT WAS SOOOO FUNNY! We got in the car once we finished and our phone connects to the blue tooth in it, and it said Doodle Ishee and they were talking so i thought they butt dialed us...then they explained...least they know we have good door approaches:) 

We also found a referral that a member gave us. They weren't very interested, but guess what yall we heard the craziest story! Their daughter was doing laundry (everyones laundry is outside in the car ports here) and a cat was hanging out with her while she was doing it. Well when she went to get the clothes out of the dryer...she found a FRIED CAT! The cat had jumped into the dryer without her knowing and well she started it and found out later why it was smelling so bad. OOOPS! 

This week was full of miracles! We made it a goal to go and find ALL the members on the Branch Record. So we went hunting for them all. We hit about half of them, PEEPS please dont ever leave what you know to be true because of something someone said! It hurts to be offended! I know it does but guess what..you not coming back to church or not reading your scriptures is hurting yourself more than they did hurting your feelings. I know that is super blunt, but guess what yall its true! Read and pray and go to church. NO MATTER WHAT! You will be filled with a greater light and will love the fresh feeling you get from doing what the Lord wants. 

I LOVE YALL SOOOO MUCH! Thanks for all the love and support and remember...if your having a bad day...just remember you arent the fried cat! So you are having a better day than the cat! :p

Love yall!

Sister Durtschi

Training Transfer Twelve

Hey Yall!

So this week was oober sad! Sister Scott left and well i found out...IM TRAINING....AGAIN! Idk what president is thinking as she will more than likely be killing me off (be my last companion). Guess she's just gonna have to deal with Sister Durtschi and her craziness. Maybe Sis Scott will have to tell her what to do in how to handle SISTER DURTSCHI...I actually think all my past comps should just write a book and publish it for all those that hang around Sister Durtschi. Call it "How to get along with Sister Durtschi - for dummies"  I crack myself up sometimes!

So the new greenie from the mtc is Sister Hope! Fitting for Sand Hill at this time:) She is from Quincy Washington and loves origami. She is the 2nd youngest with 6 siblings, and loves being a missionary. 

We also have news about the TRACTING!!! We still cant tract:/ BUT the church sent an email to the Richton City attorney and told em they cant tell us not to tract and need to fix the problem....so we will find out in a couple weeks what happens. Progress is being made on the problem tho! Happy days!

We went to a baptism this weekend in Hattiesburg. Our elders were having one and so we invited everyone and their dog to it....no one showed up but it was such a cool experience! The Hattiesburg sisters had been teaching this family for a while (actually sister scott tracted into them when she first started over a year ago) Anyways...Thomas got baptized with Mary(the elders investigator) because he found out he had stage 4 cancer and might not live long. So he decided the best thing to do in his life would be baptized! He could barely walk but he did it! It just proves that this gospel is something special! So many people came even though they were trying to do the clean ups in Baton Rouge. I love people making changes! 

Yall this week has taught me a lot about patience and how to align our will with Gods will. Sometimes we have a problem (or lots of them) or you just dont feel like the plan God has is for us...but guess what? He knows what He is doing! WEIRD right!? When we take the time to pray for ourselves and our circumstances and then follow Him...poof we are doing better than we were the day before! We may not have all of our problems fixed or feel to much different, but the only thing we can do is try to be more Christ-like and be better than we were. He always has a plan and a way for you! HE LOVES YOU! (just a tad more than sister durtschi does!) ALWAYS remember that! He wants the best for you! If you let Him, He will give you the BEST! 

I love yall!

Sister Durtschi

SNOWBALLS!

Hey Yall!

First of all...SHOUT OUT to SISTER FRANDSEN! SHES ENGAGED!!! TO ELDER HERNANDEZ! Sister Frandsen and her mom came by to see me this week and yall.... I LOVE HER! (and her mom) made all the difference in my transfer! Cant wait to see em at their wedding! December 30th!

And now back to our normal week...well its still not normal cuz tracting isnt fixed but we have a new game plan because we found out Sand Hill is staying open. So gonna see EVERYONE on the ward roster and try our best to talk to everyone and get appointments with them. If yall have any good ideas to keep us busy...I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR EM! WE NEED HELP!lol

Had exchanges this week! Got to go on Sister Kay's last exchange EVER! She goes home on Wednesday...back to the homeland of IDAHO! It was a blast and had lots of fun staying up waaaaay late talking bout my first area LONG BEACH that she had just left a little bit ago! Love my birthplace!

We had ZTM(zone training meeting) this week and all the elders got matching ties, so the STL's wanted to match too. They asked Sister Scott and I to make all the sisters necklaces called Mississippi Snowballs. It was fun:) In ZTM we talked bout writing in our journals and the importance of keeping a record. (pretty much a cry to repent for Sister Durtschi - ooops) 

We also just got transfer calls and ...... IM STAYING! but my best friend, SISTER SCOTT is leaving:( I dont want her to leave but with how short of time we both have left we knew it was gonna happen! I'm going to miss her sooo much! But Ill be seeing her around...specially in UTAH in December when she comes home! 

Well yall! I just wanted to share with yall something that I love! Alma 5:7 "Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word..." Yall WAKE UP! One of the greatest things I've learned is the BIGGEST miracle we can ALL see is A CHANGE OF HEART! When we wake up from ourselves and want to help others, we feel better and GUESS WHAT? You become more like CHRIST! Whats better than that? WAKE UP and share the light God has given yall! It starts with simple things...C-church P-prayer R-reading the scriptures...CPR! (it brings ya to life!) Yall just do it for a week and see the difference in your life! 

LOVE YALL MILLIONS!
Sister Durtschi

Sister Scott is leaving:/

Clynt! Zallene said something funny:)

Sister Kay!

throwback...before the mission! CTR!

TURTLE KILLER!

Hey Yall!

So this week Sister Scott and I had our first fight...well not really...ok thats a lie, we never fight....but sister scott does KILL TURTLES! We were driving to DM in Hattiesburg and guess what, we saw a turtle crossing the road and what does sis scott do?? RUNS IT OVER! I yelled "turtle" and then BOOM! So yall can forever remember her as THE TURTLE KILLER! 

Another thing is we have a newer senior couple in the office that are over all the cars in the mission;Elder Edwards, well he absoluetly loves us well because we're the SAND HILL SISTERS, and we are trying to solve the MANY problems with our car. (oldest car in the mjm-but still doesnt have enough miles to sell it) so we were talking to him on our way to Hattiesburg and he was searching for our vehicle info. So instead of making the call ooober awko taco...we both just started out blaring the tune of Indianna Jones....He starts to talk so we stop and says "let me put you on speaker, the office needs to hear this!" so we kept going. They absolutely love us! They all laughed, we've had to call a couple times and they always ask to hear our theme song:) 

We ate dinner at the Ishee's this week, and Scott accidentally lost the keys to our car at their house. so when they found them they brought them back to us the next day, so to pay em back for being AMAZING, we got some Blue Bell and hung out! Haha the things members do for missionaries! 

Clynt (our 17 year old less active) came to church again! Happy Days! Ms. Gracie (our investigator, shes 93) prayed AGAIN! (dont remember if I told yall she did the first time or not), but she PRAYED OUT LOUD! She has been taught for YEARS and no one has been able to even teach her till we showed up and were like uhh we'll give service and share a message! so she's been doing STELLAR! Pray for them please!

All is going well here! We still cant tract and it is now going between the county attorney and the church's attorneys to get the tracting solved, so we honestly dont know whats gonna happen with transfers this next week. Ill let ya know next Monday tho:) 

LOVE YALL!
Sister Durtschi

DOODLE!

Ishee's are the BEST!

ZONE PDAY!

#ThrowbackMonday Sister Winkel and Rodriguez and Garry!

random old building:)

Alabama/Mississippi

Hey Yall!

Guess what we did this week? let me just tell yall...all your guess's will be wrong! We had such a great time this week!

So we found out yesterday that the tracting situation is having to go to church headquarters because the city isnt willing to listen to the locals...so we wont get to tract at all this transfer! I NEVER thought i'd say this but I MISS TRACTING! I dont have many cool stories now...sorry!

We were out seeing less actives at the boarder of Mississippi and Alabama...so of course we went to take a pic with the bama sign! You cant pass up on that opportunity! (dont worry mom i didnt leave the mission!) 

We went over to a members house and made cookies to take out the next day to less actives....but we accidentally made a big mess...pictures below to explain. 

District Meeting this week was top notch! I love my district! Sister Maughan made us all lunch and then we had a lesson by Elder Hill on how to truly get people to listen to our message and to teach to their needs! SOOO GOOD!

We also are teaching a man named Brilliant! (pronounced Bril-ant) and oh my! He is so ready for this gospel! He is trying to change his life to be a better Christian...he came to church a couple weeks ago before we even taught him, we just invited him to church. Now he's taking the lessons and loving every second of it! LOVE HIM! 

Sorry its short, but its a ZONE PDAY! so gtg! BUT I love yall soo much! Thanks for all the letters from the family reunion and for the words of encouragement! If only I could tell yall how much it means to me! Yall are amazing! Keep up the great work!

Love Yall!

Sister Durtschi

6 WEEKS!

Hey Yall!

Not a lot happened this week...still cant tract...so not many good stories. SORRY! (all the good ones come from there, but oh well) ACTUALLY something huge happened! Our Branch has had very little hope in helping some of our inactives come to church, specially CLYNT! he's 17, 6'5", and 295 lbs! He actually reminds me a lot of Alex, so i guess thats why i get along with him so well (which is sad because Alex and I fought a lot! But i still love him(; ) ANYWAYS...HE CAME TO CHURCH! After 5 years of not coming, all it took was us buying him a white shirt for him to come back! Should of done that 5 years ago! 

Elder Hill gave a great sermon in dm wednesday about inviting people to baptism and how we all are to pushy and how there is a better way. Was really good and we've seen a lot of success come from it as we have applied it to some of our investigators. 

The best thing ever happened this week (other than Clynt) is that we've been talking A LOT about miracles and all the things that have happened in 3 weeks, well we decided to have ALL the members start doing a miracle log. I read this talk ( https://www.lds.org/ensign/2001/06/miracles.p1?lang=eng ) last week in personal study and we decided to share it with them. So our branch mission leader is actually dating a sister from my mission and they are almost engaged. Well Elder Oaks is going to be doing their sealing in Salt Lake. So as we were talking about that sister scott goes "speak of the devil," and then makes this uh oh face and then we all crack up. SHE JUST CALLED ELDER OAKS THE DEVIL! We then told the members that when they are at the wedding they will just think of Scott calling him the devil. OOOPS

ANYWAYS! i know i've had yall do the miracle log before but after reading that talk...do it again! There is just so many cool things that happen around us that we need to recognize more in our lives! Yall got this! Send me some of the miracles that happen! 

Now the subject line is because sister scott thinks this is really funny actually. She is 6 weeks (a transfer) behind me in the mission. She is also 6 weeks younger than me in real life. So she keeps saying we'll you'll do it 6 weeks before me, or you'll die (in real life) 6 weeks before me so then i'll know when I die. She is actually kind of a punk when it comes to SIX WEEKS of a difference:) But i love her. 

Oh ALSO met the Ishee's in the Petal ward this week! I absolutly love them! They are so much fun! If yall havent met them...sorry! yall are missing out! 

I love yall lots and hope yall are making the most out of your day!

Sister Durtschi

this is us...normally

and us...in public:)