Happy Thanksgiving!

Transfers were yesterday and I'm staying here with Elder Hernandez, but I got my first leadership position as District Leader. I was hoping for a son but I'm stoked to see what I can do for the district. You could send Elder Hernandez anything from Deseret Book and he would like it ha.

Matching Mickey pins

In the Celestial Kingdom

SHOUT OUTS. Happy belated birthday to Natalie Robson! It was on the 17th! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM EVER!

Mexicans don't really celebrate American holidays even though they are missing out on an excuse to eat a ton haha but I'll for sure try to put in my own tradition to celebrate like turkey tacos ha. During this time of year I love to look around and remember all the awesome blessings I have and it always gives me tons of energy to help others. From being in Mexico I have learned to be more grateful for indoor plumbing, A/C, and streets not made of dirt ha, but more than anything I'm so grateful for God's perfect plan for us and that he is a God of miracles especially in these latter days. The redeeming love our Savior has for us and the Restoration of is true Gospel are things I will always cherish. We are so blessed to be able to live in this final dispensation with the fullness of the Gospel. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that God will always forgive us that I will live with my family forever. More than ever I'm thankful for the blessing of prayer and this promise. Mormon 9:21.

HAVE THE BEST THANKSGIVING AND BIRTHDAY EVER MOM! I'm so thankful for all you do for me.

Love,
       Elder Shurtliff

Hola AMIGOS!

Sorry i have like no time BUT this week was awesome! I saw tons of little miracles!

Gabriel is doing good because yesterday we got him to go into Primary for his first time and so Elder Hernandez and I spent the second hour of church with the kids which was fun. He's really opening up  thanks to the other kids. So Saturday night we go to contact a referral and guess who we find? Jose! The drunk guy who bought us food the other day. We had no idea where he lived. He let us in and was drunk of course. His wife was crying and so you know what that means. It was the weirdest lesson ever, because the whole time he talked like the whole world was out to get him. Long story short he gave us yogurt and said we couldn't have the closing prayer until we drank it. Yikes! So I blessed his home with all my heart so that no harm would come upon his wife and we ran home. To be continued...

MAYEROS

Thats all for now!

Love,

       Elder Shurtliff

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

This week really flew by! The highlight was yesterday because it was pretty eventful and spontaneous. First we went to the Stake Conference for the Cancun Stake where members and investigators filled up the Stake Center until there were people on the stage in the very back. It was awesome to hear all the messages and testimonies that were all really focused on the youth and families. There was a choir of youth from Cozumel, a ton of flowers covering the podium, and they even put up a camera to broadcast it to Cozumel and other wards that are too far to be there. President Kirkham talked about how he had three special witnesses (apostles) tell him that they and the first Presidency say that Cancun has the most potential to grow and progress than any other city in the world! That's pretty intense. Ha it got everyone excited and ready to share the gospel.

Then at night we had a lesson with a family with a mom, a brother and a sister. The mom and sister are already baptized and so we were trying to help the little 10 year old say his prayers. For like 10 minutes the mom and sister went off about how he always disobeys and how he pretty much never does anything right. Finally my comp finally said, "OK, can you two go in the house so we can talk with Gabriel privately?". They went in and Gabriel told us about how his parents are divorced and only his dad loves him and how he thinks its his fault that they are separated. He said he doesn't want to be baptized because he's afraid of the water and we helped him understand it all. In the end I gave him a HLJ (CTR) ring and told him it would always help him remember to do the right thing. It was sweet! The Spirit was there for sure. Then when we were walking back to our house a drunk guy off the street invited us to eat at a little restaurant off the side of a house. He told us that the last missionaries abandoned him and something about how his wife aborted his baby and went off on his tricycle without saying goodbye. That darned alcohol! Ha well that made the end of an eventful day.

I hope everyone has an awesome week! Make good choices! 

Ha oh and Christmas is coming up!

The mission tells us to tell our families that when they send packages they should just put "books" for the contents and to put pics of Jesus on the outside for safety's sake.

Have you read the Book of Mormon today? Helaman 3:27-28

Love,

       Elder Shurtliff

FELIZ HALLOWEEN Y DIA DE LOS MUERTOS!

Surprisingly there weren't a lot of festivities here in Cancun. I only saw a couple of kids in the streets dressed up, but it was enough to make me miss home on Halloween. I love this time of year! Everything is already decorated for Christmas ha.

Our jack-o-lantern we made for Halloween!

We had the best baptism on Tuesday! There were testimonies, a choir of children, and lots of tears...of joy! The sister who got baptized is the most converted person I have seen when knowing just the basics of the gospel. Yesterday there was a rainstorm and barely any members came, BUT SHE DID. She got confirmed and basically everybody there shared their testimony which made for my most favorite fast and testimony meeting. Afterwards everyone went out to help the members with all the water in their houses. 

I'm out of time! I love you all!

Love,

       Elder Shurtliff