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