Tuesday, November 12, 2013

transfer 4!!!!

BAPTISM!!
 
In our last interview together, president Jordan reminded me at the very end to pray for humility and I have been doing so since. This week I think that the Lord answered these prayers in his loving way. We got a message from Stephen, our investigator with a baptismal date, on Thursday telling us that he had spoken to the bishop pertaining the law of tithing and he was sure that the bishop had told him he could not be baptised this Saturday. We are still unsure of what happened exactly on the phone call, maybe Stephen misinterpreted the bishop, but for some reason Stephen understood that he could not be baptised. He was devastated. He started messaging members of the ward and telling them how it was going to be cancelled. In the mean time, Sister Carvalho and I are going to great extents to contact the ward mission leader, the bishop, and district leader to sort things out and teaching lessons at the same time. It was stressful to say the least. I tried so hard to remain positive in the situation but underneath it hurt so bad. Would Stephen really not be baptised? For the few hours that this thought was in my mind, I became humbled. I truely had to recognize that this is the Lord's work. If God did not want him to be baptised this Saturday then it would be okay. I felt bad for sometimes congratulating myself on the good work that we did with Stephen because it truely was the Lord who helped us; we were only his messengers. While celebrating for a baptism after all of the hard work put in to teaching is great, it is always important to be humble in these situations. This truely is the Lord's work.
Stephen was able to be baptised and it was a beautiful day full of the Spirit. I am so grateful for this because witnessing a baptism of someone that I have been able to find and teach truely makes all of the difficult times on a mission seam minute. To know that I helped in bringing salvation to a soul makes all of the homesick nights, cold weather, and tired days worth it. The Spirit was so strong at the baptism and it all flowed smoothly and perfect! I have attached some pictures. Missions are often hard but salvation does not come at a cheap cost.
you!
speaking of stephen, he is going to be posting a letter to you this week that he is really excited for and its a great letter of his conversion story! so basically you should really be looking forward to it. Stephen is truely a MIRACLE.
Ok so now for the moves calls. Make your predictions...whats gonna happen?!?!?! I am staying! Milton Keynes take transfer 4! wahoo. Sister Carvalho and I will both be staying here together! which im really happy about because I love her so much. She is great. Im also really happy because I get to spend christmas in milton keynes and i think that will make it easier on the account of the ward here is now like family to me. Twil be great.
 
the ward send me a copy of all of the conf talks! it is so great i read them every day! please tell them thank you from me and let them know how much i appreciate it.
 
please tell grandma happy birthday from me! and tell her that i love and miss her.
 on an unrelated note, what are some of the best IT, graphics, gaming, etc. colleges or universities in the States? There is a kid out here who really wants me to find out so any suggestions please?? thanks.
 
POPS- CONGRATS on the election! whoo that was a close one. Mian i too would like to know who the 13% were who did not vote for you. They were just blinded by the craftiness of men thats for sure. Anyway, im really happy that you will still be mayor when I return. Looking for any secretaries in the future? Say maybe 1 year ish??
MOMER-yes I am allowed to listen to music! anything that invites the Spirit is allowed. If you're taking suggestions...david archuleta and kalai church music would be great:) also, on a thumb drive is best. oh you asked what i cant get here that i miss. Here they have mostly everything. they dont have crystal light though and thats all i can really think of. also, thank you for all of your prayers for Stephen! they were DEFINITELY needed and still are!
JOSHUA- haha my comp laughed at your message to her. dont worry, she definitely eats sweats. She LOVES sweets. all the time oh my gooodness. 11 kilos now. Also, she said that you wrote everything perfectly in portuguese! well done brotha!
KIRSTEN-how is the blogging? also, you asked how the interior design is here? bluh. haha. atleast in the houses i have been in. sorry but nothing would be quite up to your level. my favourite thing though is the Spirit is soo manifested in the homes of the righteous. It is seriously so easy to tell the difference when we walk in to an investigator vs less active vs members home. Members homes are SO great when they are filled with the Spirit.
ZANE- pound it right back at ya. wahoo jazz!! way to lose hard core! keep it up!
MARY-i got a link from you but not sure what exactly it is...hmm
JACOB- jacob 6:12. no email from you :(
SARAH- short and sweet. love you too!
GILLIAM- how is eliza?
POKIE-hope to get your letter soon!
BANDIT-mom said your in good shape. please keep yourself in shape! you were in a dream of mine this week
JETT AND JANE- i love you!
 
pictures:
1) Sister Carvalho and I at baptism
2) My main man STEPHEN! WAHOO! look at how great he looks in all that white. He doesnt like smiling for pictures.
3) me with one of the members who taught a lot with us when we had lessons with stephen
4) sister C and me!



Tuesday, November 5, 2013

HAGS ROFL LOL

Family and friends,
 
I cannot believe this transfer is almost over! I have loved being a trainer and especially training Sister Carvalho; she has taught me so much. I would be delighted to get to serve with her again!
Our investigator, Stephen, is progressing so well! He is still scheduled for baptism this Saturday. It is so wonderful to see the blessings of the gospel touch lives. He had his baptismal interview yesterday and passed!! yippy.
Yesterday we had a miracle. Sister Carvalho and I have been praying and even fasted yesterday for a family to find and to teach. A few days ago we were tracting and knocked on the door of a woman who was not interested but we asked for referrals and she gave us two. We contacted one day day and they were not interested and the other was not home. Yesterday we went back to the other and a little boy answered the door. He then went to get an adult and the adult was a man, the uncle of the boy, and without even asking who we were he let us in. We looked at each other a little hesitant but we could see two other women in the home so we took a leap of faith and went inside! In the home there was a mom and son and husband and wife; the husband was the brother of the mom. We ended up teaching them lesson 1 and placing them with a book of mormon and scheduling a return visit! The mom does not understand why there are so many churches and she wants to know which is true.
the other day we visited/taught a man named allan that we met tracting a few days ago. allan is in his fifties, lives on his own, and is stuck in his home due to health problems. Talking with him really got me thinking about how lucky i am to have the life that i have. he told us about how he was nearly beaten to death by his step father many times as a child, how his health is incredibly poor and he cant leave far from home, how his family never comes to visit, how he has died and come back, and the list goes on! here i am, with a mom and dad who love and support me, with siblings who are my best friends, with a healthy body that allows be to walk, run, climb, play, etc., with a solid education, and most importantly with the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life! now, i dont wish to sound prideful as the zoramites were in their prayers to their God, ubt i wish to be more thankful for all that i do have. i am so blessed. i cannot understand how i got to be so lucky. i was born in to a family that handed me the gospel on a silver platter! i am so grateful for this and i shall never take it for grantid! what was so strange to me was that, for the moment, allan and i were only a few feet aaway from each other, talking about the same thing, living in the same situation in the same moment. but how, when he would close the door, our lives would be almost completely opposite; he would go back to his dirty, lonely home and i would go about preaching the gospel. Strangely, this was my favourite (my spelling has been warped out here! o's are now ou's and s's are now z's) part of the day. Not at all because it made me feel better or special in any way, but because it make me feel thankful. It was a good reminder of how much i do have and how i need not ever complain.
Halloween was great! We had a zone training in North Hampton and at night we got to go to a trunk or treat! Really fun! I have attached a lot of pictures of halloween. Also, we got told right before bed the night before that we could dress up for zone training. We are poor missionaries with no time so we had to improvise. I had the idea right before we left the flat to be temples! Our bodies are temples! haha. i attached a pic/ Lets be honest here, you're all jealous.
Hahaha guess what i did the other night? i was saying my prayers and 5 mins in i fell asleep! i woke up like 15 mins later still kneeling by my bed. it felt like i was there for an hour! i felt so bad when i woke up because it was 10:34 and the lights were still on! haha gosh, definitely feeling the tiredness lately. Gotta love missionary work!
So on Monday guess what happened!?!? We got invited over to Davids home (the investigator that went all less active on us) to direct a family home evening! You dont understand how great this is. He has made so much progress! We got to meet his partner and share an fhe with them him and his kids!
So yesterday i was at church and there was an unfamiliar face on the stand (i can say this because i know ALL the faces of the mk ward pretty well due to the fact that i have now been here 4 months!). Anyway, he got up to speak (he was a stake pres or something i think) and he sounded exactly like sam and luke!! my goodness it was so strange. THEN he came up to me after and told me he had met my brothers before! Well, turns out it is the brother of sam and luke! and obvisously, with that, the son of Terri Clayton. So great! very strange that my whole life i have known the claytons from a US perspective and it was always that they had some family back in england. Now i know them from an england perspective and they have some family back in the states! anyways, really nice guy!
Dad-hahaha you are too witty. Who is your component, or was i should say, by the way? Is it that BYU student? How much did you win by? also, makes sense about sending the actual journal. if you type it and send it that would be cool too!
Mom-ya there was supposed to be a huge storm and there was i guess but definitely exagerated. It was just really windy and some thunder and lightening oh and houses all around our flat that got sucked up in a torndado and demolished and thats all i really know about it. Im ok though!
Josh-so cool about your grandpas mission journal! ps i eat cooked carrots without fail ERR day here. sister c laughs at me for it but guess who is the one laughing in reality? me. def me on the account of she has gained 10 kilos since she has been here! thats 22 lbs. its so funny though cuz she is still so small and she just laughs and it so we have a good laugh about it togeder. you cant even tell she has gained weight. those brazilians...
Kirsten-i cried when i read your email and missionary experience. Truely truely a miracle. Keep me updated.
Zane- wahoo! How exciting that the Jazz get to do so bad on purpose while i am gone! keep losing! By the time i get back the team will be all set with our top draft picks! keep me updated. Go Jazz!
Mary- i love your emails! Couldnt see the pictures:( but i will be praying for Janelle and Hannah! Happy birthday!
Gil-how is sister marchant? what part of brazil is she serving in? happy 4 month aniversary sarah and gil!
Sarah-there are 2 temples in england! one in preston (i have been to this its by the mtc) and one in london south mission.
Jacob- dang. you look good! glad you went bowling. also glad you atleast think about me twice during a week.
Pokie- hahahahah i LOVE that picture! I am going to print it out even though it will cost me money and i never print things out at the library cuz its too expensive but it makes me so happy so printed it will be! Also, i cant believe that you still have not written me back. If this were a yearbook and i was writing in it to you write now this is what i would write: you suck, please change. HAGS! LOL
Jett- i love the picture because your in it and you gave me a hug! awww.. am i still your favourite aunt? sure hope so! i heard you were a speaker in the primary program! i bet you did great. good job!
Jane- Hiya!
Bandit- jacob says you smell bad. Tell him that its not your fault on the account of no one ever washes you and now that they decide to it is too late. 1 bath is not going to get rid of 15 years worth of dirt build up. How naive...
pictures; lots this week!:
1,2, 3: our bodies are temples! halloween costums

 






sister carvalho. we were companion studying and she just kept pulling it out of her bag 1 by 1. goodness she loves sugar.

6:batman at trunk n treat

David's house for FHE with the elders
 

#dopeopleevenstillusehashtags? #healthyshoes #triceppatches

Month 4! Can you believe it? i have survived 4 months as a sister missionary!
 
I really enjoyed this past week! Going in to London was great for the zone conference. One of my favorite subjects to study and learn about is the great apostasy so I was very grateful for the training. One day I will be able to understand it at president Jordan's level; I'm not quite there yet.
I have a miracle to report. This morning, on the bus ride over to email, I witnessed Sister Carvalho sit by a stranger and have an incredible gospel conversation with the woman! She practically taught her the first lesson on the bus. I could not have been more proud. Her english was great and she was very relaxed and clear. We have been trying really hard to help her talk with everyone. I can see her progressing so much and I learn by her example every day!
Our investigator Stephen is doing really well. He has now come to church 3 times and is still scheduled for baptism on November 9th. I pray so hard for his family but they seam to have no interest at all and we don't know what to do! I guess all that we can do is continue to pray and have faith and then be patient. Also, Stephen wants to write you guys a letter! a letter to the fam! he has already written most of it and will be sending it soon so be expecting that! Also, he would love to hear back from you so you can write him back as a family.
Lastly, our members are great! I can see that they so badly want to catch the wave of missionary work they just hesitate and are unsure. Slowly, though, they are starting to learn. We have taught them bread crumbs and they really enjoy that. This week we had a sister report to us that she has invited 2 of her friends (with families) to church and they accepted! Also, another sister has invited family friends to dinner. The Milton Keynes ward is growing and I am so grateful to be a part of it!
I have been praying for Papa and hope all is well! Also, hope they got my letter a while ago. Send them my love!
funny moment from sister carvalho this week: stephen talks about his health issues a lot and this week sister c finally asked me why he always talks about his "healthy shoes". she was like "what are healthy shoes?" ahahaha. i love having a companion who speaks english as a second language.
also, i heard they have a new temple film!? whaaa???? i cannot tell you how BADLY i want to go to the temple!!! my goodness. i challenge you all to go in the next 2 weeks. i will be following up on this challenge. i can go in 14 months! wahoo!
Dad, I LOVED reading one of your journal entrys from your mission! I have a cool thing going where I am writing all of my journal entries to my future family ("dear future family"). It's great because it helps me keep an eternal perspective. I plan to give it to my children to read while they are on their missions! I think it would be great to read more from your journal! If possible, i would love for you to send it to me! Also, I really liked the picture of you on your mission. you are so young! havent aged a bit though dont worry.
Mom, so sad about your story and how you stressed about getting my email to me but never did. It's ok it only ruined my entire week. Haha no dont worry about it, it was all the better because I got 3 emails from you this week! As far as a package goes, I know that for christmas packages we will have to pay aroudn 40 to pick up the package. I dont know if its a special thing for christmas time cuz there are so many packages or if its in general. Pretty sure its just christmas. But are you
Kirsten and Josh, hello!!
Mary, I loved your story! I will share it with the fam: An amazing missionary story from one of my Laurels, Preslie: She has a close nonmember friend at school and was driving in her in her [friend's] father's car with her last week. Before she got out of the car, she saw a Book of Mormon! She said, "Rachel, did you know that you have a Book of Mormon under your seat?" Rachel said "What?! I'm calling my dad." She called him and he said "Oh yeah, it's my girlfriend's she's Mormon." Her parents are divorced. She didn't know he had a GF let alone a Mormon one! The next day at school, Rachel came up to Preslie and said "Guess what I did last night? I read the Book of Mormon!" Preslie was shocked! Rachel said "Oh yeah I read all about Nephi and those guys." Isn't that amazing?! All on her own! end of story. What a great way to spread the gospel! Put Books of Mormon in everybodies cars. I think I may have to try doing that.
Zane and mary, I loved all of the halloween pictures. Especially the 49ers pumpkins! Well done. Update on the Jazz?
Nicole, you looked way too pretty in that picture from Homecoming. I guess I need to start telling you to stop growing up as well. Anyone else agree?
Sarah, thank youuu for your looong email! wow. it was so fun to read. i laughed. Also, sorry about the pants ripping but hey isnt that the style nowadays? i looooove your elbow patches!!!! i have 2 sweaters with elbow patches. actually i take that back. I have one sweater with elbow patches and one sweater with tricep patches. haha they were not very wise in choosing their placement of the patches so they harldy cover my elbows. thats ok though. tricep patches! oh also, i love D&C!! You are soooo lucky that you get to have a class on it! i am FOR SURE taking that class when i get back i have already planned it. isnt it so amazing?
Gilliam, ditto to what i said to sarah except for i need to point out that i laughed even harder when i read your email. hahaha mom is so funny.
Chicki, Hi! are you going to serve a mission? you should!
Jett and Jane, stop growing up.
Bandit, PLEEEASE keep yourself healthy and living for when I get home!!! I miss you!!
 
i love you all soooo much! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Love,
Sister Curtis
 
pictures:
in the ghetto estate that we are not supposed to walk through at night..fishermead. found some pants (their term for it) on the railing. hahaha
pretty double rainbow last week! me at the bottom but i am really dark so you cant actually see me. camera decided to block me out. thats cool.
 
 at zone conference this past week. holding the golden plates! actual size and weight. to be honest, it was a little depressing holding them on the account of they seemed to be pretty heavy but i know if it were 5 months ago i could have kettlebell swinged those babies! oh well!
  my doodles for halloween. so excited! sorry the day is not planned yet so please excuse the empty spaces. note though that we have a trunk or treat at night that we get to go to! so excited!

Oi! Como foi seu dia?

Oi! Como foi seu dia? (had do write this again due to the fact that sister carvalho informed me yesterday how incorrectly i was spelling it!!! how embarrassing)
 
Spiritual thought: if you have not already evaluated your role as a member missionary, i suggest you do so now. Recently, i have been studying the story of alma and amulek and wow!-what an incredible example of members and missionaries working together. I highly suggest you go read the story of alma and amulek (alma 8 and forward). So great!
 
So an update on Stephen. He is great! I know I do this a lot but I really cant remember what I have told you about him and what I havent yet told you. In a few weeks i will just write a big long saga of stephen so you can know all about him just to fill in any gaps. For now though, i will just tell you a little. Last monday we had a lesson with Stephen that was one of my favorite! He opened up and confessed about how he has been saying some "selfish" prayers lately. He said that he has been praying and praying that we would not be moved the next transfer. He really likes us and will be heartbroken if we leave. Not going to lie, that makes me a little bit nervous on the account of we will have to leave at some point! Aand I have already been here 3 transfers now. Oh well! I trust the Lord. Then he got real teary eyed and it was really tender. We also committed him to live the word of wisdom in this lesson which was great cuz we were a little worried about that one. He only had to cut out tea but that was a big one for him since he drank 12 cups a day. He has been doing great though! He has not had tea since. My second favorite lesson was on thursday when we watch the restoration with him and i was praying sooo hard that he would feel the sppirit and gain a testimony of the book of mormon and joseph smith! Well, he got really choked up in the movie and i know that the spirit was so strong. He asked us if we could watch it again; he really liked it! My only complaint is that we have not been able to involve his family at all. He has a wife and 2 daughters and we havent even met them!! grr. I just picture them all at the temple together being sealed for forever!! one day... Anyway, his baptismal date is for November 9th, the last saturday of this transfer, so please pray for him!
the members of the milton keynes ward are so amazing (the active ones atleast). oh i heard some statistics this week in ward council that only 22 percent of the ward is active, visiting teaching is 26%, home teaching is 9%, and the list goes on and on. kinda sad isnt it? not for long!! we will change these statistics! anyway, i love the members. they are so great.
 
How is Papa doing? Im ok but i hope that you know i started to cry a little when I read that his health is not well. I wrote him and grandma a letter a while ago; i hope they got it. Please keep me updated with how they are doing and let them know that i love them!
how is bandit? i had a dream about him the other night. i hope that he is ok.
 
funny moment from sister Carvalho this week: we were at a bus stop and she said in all seriousness "i think that I am sick". me "oh no, do you feel like you are going to throw up?" her "no. i always want food. I cant stop eating". haha i informed her that is not a sickness, just a weakness.
 
what are the plans for the holidays this year?! halloween? thanksgiving? christmas? Send me pictures! Over here, halloween is considered super gorey and our bishop wont let us do anything to celebrate it but no worries cuz the bishop of the other ward in our building supports it and they are doing a trunk n treat and we can go!
 
Dad- sounds like Provo is decorated beautifully with campaigning! Keep me updated. Who is the other candidate? Also, props on winning the lazy man traitholon!! No offense to the fam but it was a given that you would win. You are in such great shape! Still opposed to crossfit???
Mom- didnt get an email from you this week...bummer. hey how is Kollin Galland? Any update on him? Congrats on taking 2nd!!
Josh and kirsten- your pictures looked great of denmark! sorry to hear about your investigators; join the club. thats ok though! there will be more waiting around the corner. maybe even literally!- go visit the houses around the corner.
Zane and Mary-no email from either of you...bummer. i still love you though and you are excused due to the fact that youre super busy.
Jacob-thank you for your long email i enjoyed it so much! dont hold back on the advice; its all so great. haha i think i can completely relate with what you were saying. Oh and i remember that list! did you end up trying to get those things done? how far in to your mission did you start that list? Congrats on taking third! oh! and i loved the picture of you and bandit! soo cute.
haha and i loved when you said that you felt like a pageant mom because you are vicariously living through me. Well, i give you permission to do so!
gil and sarah- hahaha. love you. sarah, glad you took the job.
pokie-hope to be getting a letter from you soon!
 
i have pictures to send but for some reason its not working so no pictures this week. Sowry.
Love,
Sister Curtis