Sand Hill has a....PETTING ZOO!

Hey Yall!

Oh my! Where do I even start! This week was chaos...but not as bad as last week! (you'll have to look at the blog for that one if ya didnt read it! its one for the books) We still have the crazy investigator that doesnt say anything but "sister durtschi this...." or "idaho this...". This week his hitting on me was a bit extreme, the more we go over the creepier this guy gets. He said "Miss Idaho, when you get home, you better look me up! If you dont, Ill find you!" I've been thinking bout dropping him...we'll find out. :p (prayers will be needed in teaching this guy)

We still arent allowed to tract, so we were trying the best we could to fill our time. Which turned out ok...because we were swamped! So many people to see, so its really ok that we legally cant tract:) The hot sun and door slamming in our face is always a great motivation but i guess we'll find other ways to work:)

We had interviews with President this week. Well on the way there our car had some problems...one being that we dragged some of our undercarriage by the front wheel all the way to Hattiesburg because we didnt have anything to cut the plastic off. Our fleet coordinator said to just keep driving (because we live in the middle of no where). So to not hear the car getting ruined we turned up our BYU Vocal Point and sang over the noise. We spent the rest of the day with Bro Tisdale from the Petal Ward fixing our car:) 

We had ZTM this week too which was good:) got to see lots of old friend! oh and talk about how to be better missionaries:) 

We also went out to Sand Hill Saturday and we were looking for a members house, but ended up at... A PETTING ZOO! an investigator had told us about the house, but never told us where it was...but we found it! They have a camel and kangaroo! IN MISSISSIPPI! But no one was home...so we kinda looked around and felt bad cuz we were trespassing, so we left, but yall a CAMEL! was insane! 

So this week yall lets work on flooding the earth (or friends of sister durtschi's friends and family) with happiness and laughter! Yall have to send a joke or a nice letter to someone in the mail! Ok? Yes an ACTUAL hand written letter! Why? Well because who doesnt love mail? I know i do! So yall do this and you will be blessed because your showing others you care and that makes Heavenly Father happy! So He will bless you! What more do you want? 

I love yall lots! Make this week great! Miss ya!

Sister Durtschi

The CAMEL

Elder Rawi and Pederson!

Elder Price

The Promise Land!

Hey Yall!

 

So first off...CELESTIAL EMAILING! Thats what im doing right now! So SAND HILL is like no other area! I know i said that bout Greenville, but dang this place is weird! So the Library is closed on Monday's so we have permission to email at a members house (the price's) and they are at work so they just let us come in and use their devices and raid their kitchen and we just sit in our pj's and email and eat food and yeah! Im gonna love this place!:) 

Also another reason to love Sand Hill...we live in a HOUSE! (yes it has the biggest cockroaches and bugs but its a house!) Not an apartment a house! I love it! Its an older house so we dont get to use the AC much cuz its pricey to run, which sucks, but peeps WE LIVE IN A HOUSE! makes me happy!:) (i know the weirdest things make sister durtschi happy)

So yep i left Greenville to come to another even smaller town Sand Hill, I think it's smaller than Carey! But we live and work mainly in Richton (the area is called Sand Hill tho) and its a bit bigger than Carey:) MY FIRST BRANCH! i love them! We are tiny...and pretty old...but these guys are FUNNY! Think im going to lose all this southern weight by laughing it off (cuz lets be real no one exercises!) 

So this week has been the craziest week of my entire life! We went to see one of the investigators, Jade, and he's nuts! We got out of the car and he was outside waiting for us, i go over and introduce myself and the first thing he says is "you have the most beautiful face i've ever seen!" HELP ME! then the entire time he was talking bout how im gonna get home from my mission and marry someone from the south. Then he said he planned on moving to idaho in October, i was trying so hard not to laugh. Then he sang us this song and talked all about how pretty i was and how i was the one. Then sang ANOTHER song about Idaho. oh my! Sooo funny! any who he is oober creepy! Pray for me yall!

Also we've had a dilemma going on in Richton. A police man stopped Sister Scott and the past sister while tracting and told em it was illegal to tract in this town. Sister Winkel (my trainer) had served here and told me about this problem too. Luckily my mission president is a lawyer and can fix anything, so were in the process of fighting for tracting. But were trying to find new ways to find people other than tracting, think of some and send em my way if you wouldnt mind? Always in need of help! 

So many crazy things happened this week, but ill save yalls time and energy in reading Sister Durtschi's crazy life stories!:) Yall i just love this work sooo much! Please remember I need lots of help and prayers but i will be praying for yall too! Smile and make today great!

Love yall,

Sister Durtschi

Quote of the week: 

Sister Scott and I in companionship study this morning

"Did you just say abortion?" Sister Scott

"No, i said temple worship!" Sister Durtschi

Two total opposites but super funny times:)

Where the heck is Sand Hill?

Hey Yall!

Well folks just thought i'd let ya know where i ended up...SAND HILL! Whats really funny is I thought i was going to open this area when i left my first area, but i didnt and then...here i am! Probably going to be my last area! So weird! #4months

Well since im in a new place with new people and no one really knows me...now is the time to hide the crazy side of me right? Dont want to let EVERYONE in on my secret of being CRAZY! just kidding but i would love a letter from yall! Make me feel more at home in a new foreign land...even tho its not foreign...but whatevs you get my drift:) I love yall lots and cant wait to tell yall all about Sand Hill:)

Love Yall! 

Sister Durtschi

Here comes transfer #11...WEIRD!

Hey Yall!

Shout out to SISTER OLSEN (my mtc comp) she engaged to ELDER HOMER! So happy for them! Congrats!

Well this week was crazy! Like kinda slow...but not really because we had the car and so we were a little fast than walking:) We had an amazing week!  Saw Debbie and helped her clean again. Saw some cool people tracting and AI'ing too, we'll see how things progress with them in the coming weeks. We also went to Arkansas this week to see some less actives with sister Solomon. It is soo pretty over there! Love the Delta! 

Elder Shreenan's birthday was this week so we had a birthday party at the Turley's this week for him. This week was fun as we had a nerf war for pday too:) 

Brooklyne Morrill came out with us to go less active hunting! We had so much fun! Love the Greenville ward sooo much! 

Also the quote of the week...from the Turley's. Brother Turley just got his DNA test back and he found out he's 2% Jewish. Well he kept telling us "I'm 2% Jewish." So we had to joke with him:)

Bro Turley: "Do ya know the percentage of funny Jewish people?"

Me: "2%"

Sister Turley: "that was a good one!"

I LOVE the Turley's!:)

Guess what...I LOVE ALL YALL! thats my spiritual thought for the week!:) Yall are the BESTEST, MOST AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL, HANDSOME sons and daughters of God! Miss yall lots! Love yall more tho!

Well transfers are tomorrow...and I'm getting TRANSFERRED! I wont know till tomorrow where I'm going, but ill email yall and let you know where tomorrow! Hope yall have an amazing 4th of July and be safe!

LOVE YALL!

Sister Durtschi

Love this girl! Had such a fun time remember old middle school high fives.

thanks dad:)

Love these girls! 

GREENVILLE!

SMILE TODAY!

Fields!!!

So did Luke Skywalker!

Hey Yall!

First off...Shout out to SISTER WINKEL(my 1st companion!) SHE'S ENGAGED...to ELDER HENDRICKSON! #woah Anywho...thats the biggest news of the day:)

Oh my this week was insane! SOO SPIRITUAL! 

We had the BEST zone conference I have ever been to! Our mission president talked about repentance and the the zone leaders and stl's talked about confidence and being bold and how we act on that! So spiritual! Our mission president got up at the end and said out of all the zone conferences he's been to this was his favorite and if he could rate it from 1-10 he'd give it a 9.5; because if he gave it a 10 it would go to our heads. Loved it sooo much!

Also go to spend the night in Vicksburg before zone conference since we live in Timbuktu:) Was weird staying in an area that i'd served in before. BUT i got to see some of my favorite families there! The HARGIS'S and the RACES! Man do i love them! So happy they are all growing up! 

Had exchanges in Richland with the best STL's in the mission! Sister Harrison and Sister Frandsen! I went with Sis. Harrison and can i just say...if i had a twin-it would be her! I love her guts! Oh my! It was a short exchange, but we just had a blast! Sister Frandsen and I both started our missions in the same spot (shout out long beach) so it was fun to catch up on things that happened there. Love them!

When we finally got back to our area we had a full couple days to work it. We walked EVERYWHERE! and oh my has it been just as the weatherman predicted...SUNNY and 100 degrees with HUMIDITY! but that doesnt keep us away from those ready to hear more about Jesus Christ! So we walked and walked and walked....like the pioneer children! So as we were walking we met some really cool people, and some creepers (one was very high and was hitting on sister oconnor...we didnt really know how creepy he was till i started getting his contact info and he said "i wont give it to you, but ill give it to her." and saying things like, "oh i like that one christian girl." in other words watch out for them creepers) Met our coolest new investigator! We lover her...pray for her and our work in helping her. Her name is Courtney BTW:) 

The reason for the subject line is....a quote from zone conference lunch:) Elder Vest, Elder Stanford, Elder Davidson and I were all talking and brought up Napoleon Dynamite and Elder Vest had asked if I'd seen some movie. I responded "no, i lived in the middle of no where." Elder Vest said "so! So did sister Maughan." Elder Davidson responds "So did Luke Skywalker." haha we all just died of laughter! Love other missionaries! 

Well this week was just amazing but I'm short on time so Ill let yall go. I'm 98% sure im getting transferred so no more mail to Greenville please. Ill let yall know next Monday where I end up:) Love yall millions! Keep being awesome! 

Love Yall!

Sister Durtschi

Exchanges:) Best ZL's and STL's eva!

LOVE IT!

Corbin!

US

Weaver the III

Random sauce

WINKEL AND HENDRICKSON

We all have mission calls...and i miss Grandpa so much!

No power...but still have MISSIONARY POWER

Hey Yall!

This week has been the craziest, weirdest, hardest, saddest, most insane, happiest, hottest, coolest, most spiritual, and most changing on my mission! I have never felt so many emotions in one week as i did this week. I know without a doubt that this week is one for the books! 

So to start out we saw miss Debbie and helped her clean and eat her food:) She asked us if she could just call us over whenever she actually wanted to cook and we told her of course! (she lives by herself and doesnt cook very often) I just love our investigators!

We were suppose to have a baptism Saturday...but the Lord had other plans. Sammy and Sir have left Greenville. Dont know where they are or what they are doing....so that was really hard to just have our two most progressing and willing to change to just drop off the face of the earth and not have any closure to the subject. BUT we have faith in our finding efforts to find the next Sammy and Sir and have a different outcome:)

Wednesday we had the best scripture study class! We had some of my favorite members in the Greenville ward there and we just learned so much as we follow the spirit and discuss what they want to talk about in the chapters we're going over. LOVE IT!

We went to another favorite members house and sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her as she turned 88 that day! She about fell off the porch with happiness! She is amazing!

Friday we went to Sis. Washingtons and had dinner...in the process i had my first Kool-aid pickle....was interesting...but i love it! 

Saturday we had our M&M night:) Was a SUCCESS! lots of people came brought friends! Oh how i love the words FREE MILKSHAKES and apparently so do the people around here:)

Now the subject of my email...so Friday we had a GIANT storm! WIND(wich is an Idaho wind...but you dont get it much here in Mississippi) and RAIN(the normal kind of Mississippi rain...buckets!) and it blew trees down and took out power lines. So our power went out about 6ish on Friday night. Then we heard that it would get turned back on at 10ish or midnight. Well we woke up many times that night because well it was HOT! no AC no fans....just heat! We woke up that morning and still no power...didnt really know what to do so we went to the church. Luckily the church had power:) Set up for the M&M night. Found out that the power didnt get turned back on till right before we got home Saturday night. Can I say miracle or what!?! Like The ac had kicked on and it wasnt too hot, but man it was just soo great to do things the hard way of missionary style cuz we didnt have power...but we still had our missionary power! 

Sorry bout this one being a long one, so i wont give yall a challenge this week! Other than KEEP BEING AMAZING! 

LOVE YALL!
Sister Durtschi

Summer Has Hit The South

Hey Yall!

Another announcement! ELDER LUKE DURTSCHI! Is gonna be the bestest Elder Durtschi in the Everett, Washington mission! #5DURTSCHI'S #PreachinTheGospel #AroundTheWorld

I dont even know where to start! This week was the busiest i've ever been my entire life! So many blessings came from Heavenly Father because of our faithful work! 

I really wish time would slow down! I don't like how fast my mission is going, so it makes me cherish more and more each day that I'm here.

This week has been insane crazy sauce! We had so many members come out with us and we saw so many people! Really has been a blessing as I've been trying to be the best missionary i can be. I love being able to see the more obedient and hard working I become the more Heavenly Father trusts me with His children. 

Sammy and Sir wont be getting baptized this weekend. We had a crazy week with them as well. We met with them a couple times at the beginning of the week, and then chaos happened. Sammy and Sir ended up leaving and going to Texas. We haven't been in contact with them since Friday. We honestly don't know whats really going on. But hopefully we can get something up and going again with them. Its just been a great week to rely on the Lord and notice that its His timing, and if we have enough faith it will all work out.

We went to Clinton for ZTM this week. Oh my! I love our Zone! Best zone in the MJM! Talked a lot about following the spirit and how we have to have the spirit in order for others to feel the spirit. Really spiritual if you ask me!:) Who would of thunk, talking bout the spirit and what we need to do to have the spirit brings the spirit into our meetings.....weird! :)

I had to speak Sunday on prayer. So i tied it into my decision to come on a mission and prayer throughout my mission. Was really fun! I love this ward! They are just a tad smaller than home but they have some of the same characters and it makes me happy to see them each week!:) 

We have our M&M night this weekend and so we hope lots of people come! Send your prayers this way as we try to make it a fun/spiritual night for everyone and anyone that comes. All yall are invited too if ya want to make the trip to Mississippi:) jk dont do that!lol 

Well ill let yall go, but have an amazing week and focus on the ATONEMENT this week as you go about your day and recognize all that our brother Jesus Christ has done for us! I love all yall dearly! 

Sister Durtschi

Put to much soap in the dishwasher...oooops

Its true:)

Elder Stanford, Vest, and I:)

LOVE HER!

Love the Johnson Family!