HOLA HERMANOS Y HERMANAS

I dedicate this blog to the best dog in the world, Rascal, who passed away this week. ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN!

 Like I say every week, this week flew! My comp had to go to a couple meetings this week so I got to do divisions with another American that has the same amount of experience as me. For a couple days we were running around Mexico, trying to find houses, and speak Spanish by ourselves. Ha. By the end of the day we were dead tired and proud of ourselves so we ordered a pizza. I love teaching with other missionaries so I can see their unique teaching styles and we can learn from each other.

 

 So they don't have most of the American holidays here, but I have fun trying to explain all of our American traditions to the members here ha. 

Things were going really well with me and my comp until we had our biggest fight yet, which felt like it came out of nowhere. Ha. Let's just say we let out a lot of steam at each other, but now that its over I think we are as good as ever. Funny how things work out sometimes. Today we got a new addition to our companionship too since transfers were yesterday. Elder Reyes from D.F. Mexico is our new comp and so we are going to be in a trio until Hermano C. leaves. Ha. It's going to be different, but I'm up for it.

SHOUT OUTS for my mom and THE Sarah Henretty because I finally got their amazing package which made all of the other missionaries really jealous. Actually...you made them break one of the Ten Commandments soooo HOW COULD YOU?! Haha Thank you! ALSO, SHOUT OUT for Mr. Tommy Gilmore for sending me a letter that I got this week! Woohoo! Thanks bud! I'm trying my best to write everyone back as soon as I can. OH and for my brother Aaron for writing me his first email.

Thank you everyone for reading my blog! I included some pics on request from my dad so everyone could see more views of Mexico like one of the many Tortillerias and little stores around the city.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

LOVE,

          Elder Adam Shurtliff

This week...

The back of the Patriarch's bakery

HI everyone! so funny story, I get back from a long bus trip from Merida one day and my comp tells me we are at war with North Korea...WHAT? Ha whats going on? I dont have a lot of time this week, but something cool that happened is we had our Stake Conference, but I'll talk about that next week.

My comp and I are doing a lot better. Its kinda weird to me how we can have a big argument and then ten minutes later we are studying and teaching the Gospel like it never happened. Thats the power of the Spirit! Of course we shouldnt be arguing in the first place, but we are both pretty stubborn. ha Let's just say I'm learning a lot more patience and humility. I know having him as a companion is a challenge, but it's an even greater blessing. He's got just about three weeks left and I'm hoping I actually get a comp that stays with me a little while longer than a transfer before I start training.

We are making a lot of progress in our ward and helping out a lot of less active members trying to find references. Almost every inactive member I teach misses the church and having the Spirit in their lives, but they just need that special motivation to spark their will to return. Thats where the members come in. So make sure you are always looking for ways to help out the less active members in your ward, because you could be an answer to their prayer.

Stay safe from North Koreans!

Love,
Elder Shurtliff


Elders from my MTC district that I ran into
















Mom here: Just a note for you in case you are sending Adam a package and don't know what food treats he likes. He doesn't have peanut butter in Mexico. He wouldn't mind honey roasted peanuts or trail mix (we usually buy the Mountain Trail Mix from Walmart). He is missing Reeses Puffs too. Mexico chocolate is very different from what we are used to and is missing snickers or other chocolate candy, but I must warn you that customs has chocolate on their "not allowed to send" list. When asking other Mexico moms about it, it seems that most have sent it anyway and listed it on the customs form as 'confections'. All has arrived safely and no missionaries have done time in Mexican jails for being mailed chocolate as far as I can tell, so do what you feel is best, but I have let you know.... Of course, we all know Adam's affection for Starburst jellybeans, Cadbury carmel eggs, and other Easter treats. I have already stocked up on jellybeans this year so that I can send some with every package throughout the year. If interested, you may want to do something similar. If you haven't sent him a package yet and do not know, it is EXTREMELY expensive. I am not advocating that you send him stuff and really, he doesn't NEED anything, but in case you are interested, I wanted to pass the info along.

HOLA EVERYONE!!!

Snow White pic for SARAH

I hope everyone had an awesome fast Sunday!

This week has flown by which means I'm keeping busy, but its been a little hard lately. It's a little harder to get along with my new comp. He likes using his authority and whatever he says goes so it's something I'm going to have to get used to. It's making me have to learn obedience and humility so I can always listen to his advice no matter how much it sounds like his own opinion. It's been a little hard to find more people to teach and I'm always trying people to talk to from taxi drivers to people off the street, but the key is to work with the members. We are definitely in a growing period and trying to get the support for the leaders of the ward so we can get some firm references.

I'm still doing awesome here enjoying the weather and learning a ton everyday. A lot having to do with planning. I never knew how important it is to have a plan before the mission. (Take note Robbie and the rest of you.)

SHOUT OUTS this week for my Grandma Due and Aunt Lynlee!!! Thank you so much for you handwritten letters! They were one of the highlights of my week!

I wouldn't call my story for this week fun and exciting (I'll let you know when I have a good one of those), but last week we went to the weekly ward sports activity and found a funeral. Funerals here are the same exact day the person dies, because they can't preserve the body for long...a little fun fact for ya. The ward leader asked me and my comp to take part in the service since we were there and so I led the music while my comp gave a talk about the Plan of Salvation. I would have given a talk too but I was only backup if the person who actually had the assignment didn't show up. The funeral service was full of nonmembers though and it was really something to see them all learning about the hope and brightness for the future we have as members of the true church of God. It really got me thinking about how blessed we are to know about God's plan for us so we dont have to be so depressed when something like that happens in our lives. The Gospel blesses us more than we can possibly imagine.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Share it with somebody and change their life!

Love,

        Elder Shurtliff

More people ride/drive motorcycles to church than cars.

My 1st/original District

I'm an Uncle!

I dedicate this blog to my brand new niece, Preszley. I'm officially an uncle and it feels awesome even from being thousands of miles away. CONGRATS TO MY BIG BRO TRAVIS AND MY FAVORITE SISTER IN LAW KENZIE!!!

So some other big news if you haven't heard is that the Merida Mexico mission is going to divide around June to make the brand new Cancun mission.  That means two brand new mission presidents also and if I stay here in Tizimin I'll be in the Cancun mission. We don't really know more than that, but its exciting to see things change and grow in the church.

So my new comp Elder Cromwell is actually from Idaho and is pretty strange (is currently stuffing a giant iguana he killed and ate), but he has 23 months just like my last comp so that means he has lots of experience that I will be able to learn from. We are getting along alright. We aren't best friends, but he likes to work out problems right when they start so we are doing good. It's nice to have an English comp so I understand what he's thinking a lot easier, but its hard to stick to the Spanish.

This first week with him has been pretty hard just because of all the changes and having to find a lot more new people to teach, but we are working with the ward a lot more and that will help a ton to get references. 

One of the highlights of the week was getting the best bacon calendar ever from Miss SARAH HENRETTY.

Requested funny tan line pic by Sarah and others!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! It gave me the pick-me-up I needed and made me laugh harder than I have had laughed in a long time.

Thank you so much everyone for all your love and support!

Help your missionaries and give them a reference! Every member a missionary!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE

Love,

       Elder Shurtliff

I guess if we have American Eagle, it makes sense that they have Mexican Eagle as well as other types of Eagle stuff...hmmm I wonder what the Turkey Eagle shoes and clothes look like.

 

¡BUENO!

These last two weeks have been pretty crazy with getting two more people ready for baptism and our zone conference in Cancun around the same time. Cancun was really different than I thought and is HUGE. There are stores everywhere and the supermarkets have like three stories each. President Salinas blew us all away with his talks at the conference about the Liahona, Faith in Christ, and His Atonement. I'm spiritually recharged and ready to convert the world!

My comp Elder Gutierrez is about to leave and Ill have my new comp today who is from Utah, and SURPRISE, and is about to die soon just like my last comp. I have mixed feelings and I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing, but I know I'm going to learn a ton from it.

Our baptisms on Saturday were awesome and I got hit with the Spirit when I congratulated the15 year old boy, named Daiver, right after his baptism. It was awesome and all to baptize him, but the Spirit really hit me when I hugged him and he said, "Muchas Gracias" (Thank you so much). I could see how the Gospel has changed him and how it will continue to help him live happier for the rest of his life. It was a feeling like no other and I feel awesome just thinking about it.

I hope everyone had the best Valentine's Day ever!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE and remember to read the Book of Mormon!

Love,

         Elder Adam Shurtliff

No Tiempo

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY FROM MEXICO!!!

I don't have time for a blog this week, but tell everyone Happy Valentines Day and READ THE BOOK OF MORMON.

Dear FAMILIA and Everyone Else,

I received this letter yesterday, dated 1/7/2013, so it's just over a month old. I love the way he writes.
(transcript follows)

1/7/13
Dear FAMILIA and Everyone Else,

¡Hola! Well here I am on my flight to Houston and then I'm finally on my way to Merida. Woohoo! I'm so excited! I can't wait to tell everybody all the awesome experiences I'm going to continue to have while helping others come unto Christ.

By the time you get this you will probably have read about some of them on my blog, but there's so much more stuff that I want to share about than what's on my blog. If I had more time I would pretty much copy down my journal, no joke.

I just wanted to write a little letter to tell everyone how much I have already learned during my short time in Chicago. Time passes by way too fast on a mission just because you learn and do so many things everyday and so when you think back to a certain time it seems like it was forever long ago. Does that make sense? It's kinda hard to explain.

In a nutshell the biggest thing I have learned and experienced so far is how awesome everybody is. In Chicago I really came to love my ward even though at first they seemed really closed off and didn't want a whole lot to do with me. After spending time in their homes and sharing spiritual experiences together I found out what makes them amazing and how Heavenly Father can love every single one of his billions and trillions of sons and daughters. He knows us more than we can imagine so He loves us more than we can imagine. What He wants more than anything is to have all of His children return to Him so we can have all that He has and be eternally happy.

I just can't wait to share this message with the people of Mexico and to see how my personal testimony will strengthen everyday. I also can't wait to see how all of you will grow and change for the better so keep writing me letters to let me know how you're doing. If you're thinking that you don't have anything exciting to share then you couldn't be more wrong. I'm always excited to see what's going on in the states, haha. It feels weird to say that. 

I love you all!
Elder Adam Shurtliff