Another one bites the dust

Another One Bites the Dust
Welp, to make a long, sad story short, we dropped Franklin. The adversary most definitely started filling his thoughts with doubts and all he wanted to do was prove the Book of Mormon was not the word of God. We could have sat there all night long and Bible bashed with him (which is what I REALLY want to do all the time cuz we would win), but he was not open to the Spirit and the Spirit is what converts so it would have been no use. Contention is of the devil! Every time we run in to situations such as these it only strengthens my testimony. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, revealed to us through the prophet Joseph Smith. God and his son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820 and restored the true and everlasting gospel on the earth. With it, they restored the proper priesthood that gives us the authority to baptise by immersion and recieve the sacred gift of the Holy Ghost. Our purpose on this earth is to prepare ourselves to stand before God at judgment day and to have performed our works. I want to stand before the Judgement bar of God and know of his love and appreciation for my righteous choices. I want to look to him and know that I did my part in bringing up His kingdom. I want him to tell me "well done, my true and faithful servant". And that, my friends, is much more powerful than any body who pulls out anti mormon literature, versus of the bible they clearly do not understand, or doubts from Satan. Franklin has been warned, and we have done our part. My joy is that he has a desire to follow God and he has a testimony of the Bible. He is not yet prepared to hear the gospel but one day he will be and we have planted the seed.

Random thought occupying my mind:
We had a missionary conference was eye opening. Elder Evans from the 70 asked which of us had talked with someone on the tube over. Sadly, 5 stood of 250 (it was pday but still no excuse). As I sat in my seat, realizing that I had not talked with anyone on the tube ride over, I felt ashamed and embarrassed. If I had only talked with one person out of the hundreds I could have stood up when Elder Evans asked the questoin! How easy it would have been to open my mouth, even just once. As the meeting continued, I started realizing though that I might be feeling this way for the wrong reasons. Was I ashamed because I wanted to look like a good missionary in front of President and Sister Jordan? Was it because I wanted Elder Evans to be impressed with me? Or was it because I truely felt saddened for the woman who did not have the chance to hear the gospel yesterday and may not for a long time? Was it because I felt ashamed in the eyes of the Lord? While all of these reasons are okay to be true, I believe the latter should be the first thoughts that enter my mind. I want to be the missionary that Heavenly Father would be proud of. I want to be the missionary that I can look back on for the rest of my life and know that I gave it my all. To do this, I need to stroke when I don't want to stroke. Or in my case, I need to knock when the day is almost done and I am exhausted from being rejected and I am hungry and cold. Because those are the times, I believe, that the Lord will bless us the most. As you may know, I am a fitness guru and I know that the times that you are able to strengthen your muscles or your capacity are the times when you think you have done all that you can and then you do just a little more. I believe that these are the times that the Lord will bless you the most. I am going to work hard all day, every day, because that is what I have been called to do. Resting comes between 10:30 at night and 6:29 in the morning. And even then, I am focusing on the people of England. And after these 18 months, I can rest, knowing that I have exhausted myself for a strong and noble purpose.

 

Awkward stories for the week:
Sometimes England is a strange place. Sister Hymas and I meet a whole variety of interesting people. The other night, we were on our way to an apt (that hosed us) and 3 guys in their 20's stopped us and one started talking to us (they were all from Russia) and we slowly started to realize he was probably drunk. We spoke to them for a few mins and tried to get in some words about the church and the gospel but i dont think they could care that we were missionaries. Then, all of a sudden, one comes up to me and puts his arms around my legs and tries to pick me up! luckily i got out of it before he could be he hugged me and i felt gross about it! has he not read the missionary white handbook?? So not allowed! We knew, after that, we had to peace out real quick. Before we could, the guy said to me, "i love you, baby". then, he asked if we had boyfriends and when we could meet up. I think we ended up telling them we did have boyfriends (it was the only way out! im sorry if it was a lie but we had to) and that we had to go. He kept shouting, "i love you, babe!", "babe, I love you!" hahaha reminds me of Hot Rod. "Babe, wait!". Haha so ya, sometimes weird things happen but you just gotta laugh at them.
story number 2: I complimented a girls skirt on the bus to try to get a conversation started with her. She just looked at me a little confused. Then i realized it was not a skirt, they were pants! So i said, "oh, are the pants?" Then she just half smiled, said no, and turned away. I sat back and said to myself: "if theyre not pants or a skirt then what are they and why does this woman not want to talk to me!?! Im only trying to strike some conversation!". 3 minutes after i started laughing as i realized that pants in England are called trousers and if you say pants you are referring to underwear...oops!
3rd story: mom trying to talk to me at your FHE is super funny. Thats just embarrassing for all of us. Could somebody please tell her I left for a mission a month and a half ago?

 

Josh- I take all of your advice to heart. I am trying so hard to be bold. There is no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone.

 

Zane and everybody else- SOOO GOOOD!! you are being a member missionary and I love it! Your story is exactly what Heavenly Father is asking you to do. He is not asking the members to go out knocking, or finding or even teaching. He has called the missionaries for that. Your duty is simply to invite and look at what happened! For those of you who zane did not tell, here is a copy of his story he sent me (sorry if you didnt want me to send it out but too late now!) :I hometeach a family.  Mike and Haley. They are both close to my age.  Haley comes to church every week but Mike has been inactive for some time.  Its been really hard for me to try help Mike.  Mary and I try to hang out with them on a fairly regular basis, but Mike is quiet and very reserved about his feelings.  I've never even been able to find out why he doesnt come to church.  Mary and I found out a month ago that we were going to be speaking in church and I told him at the time that i wanted him to come hear us speak. The friday night before we were hanging out with them and Mike asked if I would go to cross-fit with him on bring a friend day.  (he loves cross fit and is very good at it) I told him I would go if he came to church and he agreed!!!!!   We went to cross fit the next day (saturday) and he showed up and sat near the front to hear us speak.  Now guess what??? We found out later that the reason he went inactive is because he struggles with the concept of tithing, and our talks were on tithing!!!!  Tender mercy.  I don't know what will come of it, but its a step in the right direction. 
Everybody should follow this example! the Lord will bless you.

Momer- dont worry we have loaded up our fridge for the week so we are goood to go. But i will probably end up using more of personal money hope you dont mind. I promise we are being thrifty but things are expensive here!
Papa Smurf- youre going to China? thats way cool. Im kinda in china, but not really. Not at all actually. But thats cool! also, got your pics in the mail. thanks!
Sarah-cool i was in your dream. Keep dreaming about me, i like that.
Mary-thank you for your email! i read it all and took it all to heart. I remind myself of it everyday.
Kirsten-THANK YOU FOR YOUR PACKAGE!! oh my goooodness it made me so happy:) i even took a picture with it that i will attach. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Pokie- i sent you a letter i hope you get it soon!
Jacob- "oh be wise, what can i say more."
Gil-youre cool.
bandit-please stay alive

jett and jane- remember who is your favorite aunt. jett you drew a fantastic picture of me.

pics:
1) i got "kabaptised" with my district last week. they call these kabobs. they are the size of jupiter. i ate the whole thing though cuz i got dared to so i had to.

2) i got to see elder Lingham yesterday! 2 days before he heads home! soo good to see him, we got to talk for a while and he is doin great and you can look forward to seeing him soon!

3) this is the post i got yesterday when we went in to london for the mission wide conference. (thank you to dad and kirsten and krasons!!)

4)got to stop by platform 9 3/4 yesterday cuz it was pday and we were already in london for the conference! (just ignore the girl in the back, i was too cheap to buy the picture they take so i just had an elder take one for me!)

love you all!!!

em

You go Glen Co Co

You go Glen Coco!

 

to my peeps,

 

So thursday night sister H and I were feeling really really really down in the dumps about our numbers. To make a long story short we were both in tears (lots) and trying to figure out what we are doing wrong. We are obedient, we work hard, we try to be diligent. We decided to fast the next day to help us to stay faithful and just put our trust in the Lord. That day we met a girl named Sabrina, in her twenties with two kids, when we were knocking and we called her our "tracting miracle". Her nan passed away two months ago and wants to know more about the plan of salvation. We set an apt to meet with her. THEN, that night we texted her just saying it was nice to meet her and look forward to seeing her soon. GUESS WHAT she texts back "thank you for calling on me todaym i have had time to think about talking to you further and i feel at present although i would like more knowledge about god and his purpose i dont feel comfortable allowing you into my home...i hope you understand" us: "sorry is there something specific you are concerned about?" sabrina the teenage witch: "the concern is i dont like strangers in my house regarless of their faith...i dont wish to be preached to, ill find the information i require from other less personal places...i dont wish to be rude but i dont want you to come into my home". Whaaa?? ok what just happened?? is this real life?? She is a completely different sabrina than the girl we met at the door! i dont even know where to start. this situation  is just messed up on a lot of different levels. i tried so hard to no let it get to me, but it did. it most definitely put me down. why? why does the lord have to take this one away from us too? she was our miracle family! i couldnt wait to teach her the plan of salvation and see the light in her eyes. why did satan have to creep in to her thoughts and give her doubts? though i know its not comparable at all, i felt like joseph smith when he lost yet another child. another one?! i am learning to put my trust in the lord though and that is what is important.

 

So on to a new day. Guess what!? a mirracle happened the other day! We had an investigator show up to an appointment. Of the 3 1/2 weeks that we have been here, white washing in Milton Keynes, that is the first time that has ever happened! His name is Franklin. We met him one week ago. We were just walking and said hi then he stopped and started muttering something about how he was sorry and something came up...It turns out that he had been stopped by the Elders a little while back and had hosed them twice. We asked if he had a few minutes to sit down and we could teach him a little more. We taught him for 40 minutes or so about how he has known for a while that he needs to draw closer to God and be repentent of past sins. Then, two days ago we had an appoinment scheduled and he was there early, before us! We were able to teach him the restoration and thus far he does not have any problems with the Book of Mormon. He says that if it is the word of God then he will read it! He brought up Rev. 22: 18-19 about adding to the Bible. We explained how the Book of Mormon does not add or take away, it compliments; they go hand in hand. He said that when we explain it that way it makes sense! Glory, glory, hallejulah (definitely spelt that one wrong)!! We commited him to reading Mormoni 10, praying, and coming to church. Flash forward the next day to Church. So there I was...(I should say we rather than I), so there we were, Sister H and I, sitting, just waiting in the chapel. Feet tapping, hearts racing, teeth chattering, fingers twiddeling, stomachs growling (thats only because it was fast sunday though), and clock ticiking, and ticking, and the congregation starts to quiet downm with the clock still ticking cuz thats just what they do, and sacrament meeting begins, and no Franklin. Our hearts start to drop a little (not literally cuz thats just impossible). But then, i turn my headm and i see a glimpse of happiness. The church doors swung open and insinctively the confetti fell. The world switched in to slow motion gear and in walks my main man Frank-sizzle. Leather jacket, takes off his Ray Ban shades. The congregation starts to rise from their seats as you hear in the backround, "We are the Champions" playing and the crowd goes wild!! Frank-sizzle struts his stuff down from the hall, through the waiting lounge and in...to...the...Chapel!!! Franklin came to church=we have our first progressing investigator!!! Wasssuppp. So take out the chearing, confetti, and leather jacket and shades and this would probably be a little more like what happened in real life but in my head that is most definitely what was going on. Espesically the song in the backround. Well church was fantasitc. I was really nervous at first but I just put my trust in the Lord, handed it over to him, laid back and enjoyed a great fast and testimony meating. We plan to meet with him again this Tuesday so pray for us!!

 

Also, real quick. A week ago we met an asain named Coco and got her contact details. She has been meeting with some J Wits (jehovah witnesses) and just wants to know more about the Bible. We set an apt with her but she didnt show and I literally called her 10 times cuz I was not giving up! then for the next 3 days i would call her (most definitely creepy stalker status goin on here). Then last night randomly decided to call her again and she answered! You go Glen Coco. We have an apt scheduled again and by goly she will be there!!! 

 

random thoughts:

1)I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE SECOND COMING. I cant wait til i get to see Jesus Christ ascend from Heaven. Whenever i am sad i think about that. Mind BLOWN.

2)Haley Divines husband grew up in the other ward that goes to our church! we met her husbands sister last week at church so that was pretty bomb.

3) we have a Less active whose cousin is RIHANNA. seriously, they are cousins.

 

so the pictures:

1 and 2) sister h and i like to take random pictures with our friend the dinosaur so these are of us with him. we steal each others cameras and takes lots of pics with him on the other persons camera so here are just a couple.#

3)this is when we got to go to london to a mission meeting and we got to pick up mail and i had letters wahoo! special shoutout to Crystalee (sorry i think i spelt that wrong) Beck and Nicole Curtis! You are da bomb. Let us all follow in their example and demonstrate our love for Emily. I am working on writing you back. But seriously, they MADE MY DAY.

4) This picture is right after we met sabrina and we were so happy we could not contain it...

5) this is when we were really bumbed cuz we found one of our pass along cards sitting on a bus. Meaning someone didnt care for it when we gave it to them before. too bad, they dont know what they are missing out on.

 

i love you all,

Sister Curtis (Em)

another one

To all my peeps in the hood,

 

first, thanks for all your emails. I loved them ALLLLL.

 

second, Brookes is going to win the bachelorette and i expect a package in the mail with my trophy and prize for guessing it right from the very first night!

 

third, we had a guy ask us if our church was lesbian the other day

 

fourth, thanks dad for the pics! dropbox is the best way. so thank you! sarah you look beautiful and i hope my kids can have your traits some how

 

fourth, a woman in church was saying the prayer and she paused for 15 seconds then said "i cant remember the word" then a man from the audience shouted it out and she said "oh yes..."hahaha soo funny.

 

Lastly,

attached are some pictures and here are their explanations:

1) this is a note and Book of Mormon that I left for the person who was coming to inspect our flat. They never called but they took it all!! which made me really really happy.

2 and 3) this is me licking the soup can and sister Hymas and i thought it was funny cuz normally its "would you like to lick the brownie bowl?" but instead it was "would you like to lick the soup can?"

 

4)this is sister wuthrich who is a sister trainer who came and trained with us for a day. She is AMAZING. and truely an inspiration. We saw many miracles with her. We were able to have our first solid lesson to an investigator with her and i got to recite the first visoin. WOW. truely powerful words right there i tell ya. My eyes started to water and i almost cried in the womans home but I felt the Spirit so strong and I felt like a missionary for the first time.

 

5 and6) sister hymas and i ran out of money and we had nooo fooodd!! all we had were eggs, butter, salad dressing, and oatmeal. But no worries, we went to the store today and stocked up. But had to use our personal money. We figured it was worth it though cuz we kinda wanted to be able to eat.

 

I love you all,

sorry its short again but i sent more pics so yay!

 

 

"Dang girl da back of yo head is ridicalus"

Hi fam. Ok I am keeping this email short today because I am going to try to write back to a lot of you individually.

 

First matter of bidness: You are ALL in trouble. Any one of you reading this now. Cuz NOObody sent me ANY pictures of Sarah's wedding that happened almost a MONTH ago. So, you can all go log on to facebook, insta, whatever and send those NOW! shmanks.

 

Second, send letters, packages, and Bandit to this address:

Sister Emily Curtis

England London Mission

64-68 Princes Gate

Exhibition Road,

South Kensington

London

England SW7 2PA

 

Third: I have sent letters to Pokie and Bacob so hopefully you get them! postage is pretty espensive (a little over a dollar) so if you send one make sure to check it is enough

 

fourth: anybody have good ideas on how to get my ward excited about mish work and how to get them more involved? good ward activites to have? Mom this is where you come in with your brilliant ideas

 

fifth: there is an elder curtis here and we think we are related! dad can i get some good ancestor info? he has some from scotland and england like we do. He also said his curtis comes from a famous judge in like colorado or somewhere with a c.

 

sixth: I cannot stress this enough. MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK. Work with the missionaries you know and get them some dang referrals! if you dont know any, find some!! referalls are the best thing you can do for a missionary. if you have not noticed by the hastening the work broadcast, it is clear that our church is trying to head a new direction with missionary work. So bare your testimony, invite people to church, give people pass along cards, and become a missionary! and dont use the excuse that you live in utah and there are no non members. Get less actives, find the nonmembers, and answer the call of the prophet! ok that is enough for my lecturing this week:)

 

here is a little letter for you:  There were many times this week where I felt discouraged and sad. I think that it might be home sickness mixed with many investigators not showing up to appointments. But I have been praying to Heavenly Father really hard to just help me be happy. I feel that I have been able to be happier than at the beginning of the week. And there is one experience that I would like to share with you. The other day sister Hymas and I were walking to an appointment and a woman was carrying things from her car to a building. I asked if she needed any help and she was quick to say yes! There was another woman with her that was there as well and as we walked past she said, "hello sisters!". We were both shocked and started talking with her to find out how she knew about the term "sisters". Come to find out, she is a member of our ward but has been inactive for years now! So we set an appointment to meet with her for this morning (Monday morning) and we just got back from that appointment now. After getting to know her story better when we met, we started to bring the church in to the conversation and found out that she met the missionaries just before she was married and was baptised just one week after meeting them! Not short after, her fiance was baptised as well. Sadly, over time they have become less active due to many excuses that she so easily gave us. Without even forcing it out of her though, the magical words "I'm ready to come back to church" came out of her mouth! What an incredible thing for us to hear. We have made plans to meet with her and her husband soon and hope to bring them both closer to Christ.

oh and her name is Yvonne and i cannot help but think of "da back of yo head is ridicalus" youtube video every time that i say her name.

I am working my hardest to stay happy and positive but I know that it will be a process and this is what the Lord sees is best for me now.

 

Love,

Em (don't tell anyone I signed my name like that I just really like to be called Em and not Sister Curtis)

 

play station i sent a lot of pictures to sarah so make sure she gets them up on the blog and facebook thanks!

My 3rd companion!

this is the letter i wanted to send last pday:

my teacher, sister willis, is an incredible teacher. she is 23 but i swear could convert anyone with the help of the holy ghost. she taught us last week that we need to truely love our people, our investigarots, and our companions. that is one of the first steps to effective teaching. a quote i like to look to is, "there are 2 types of people in your life, those you love and those you have not met yet." we should all try to live by this princople. i have always believed that we know that we love someone when we see a tiny glimpse of who Heavenly Father sees when he looks at the person. I want to challenge all of you to strive to see that perspective in everyone.

 

I have also gained a very strong testimony and appreciation of the Holy Ghost. i know i told you that I was in a companionship of 2, sister larson and I, but i lied! its a trio! me, sister larson, and the Holy Ghost. its not me, or sister larson, or even the book of mormon that converts, its the Holy Ghost! and that is why missionaries need to do all that they can to keep it with them. I love the quote, "if man can talk a man in to baptism, then man can talk a man out. But if the Holy Ghost can talk a man in to baptism, then no man can talk him out". Its so true!

 

As i was studying my scriptures the other day i came across a verse that i love. d and c 1:23 "that the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers" what an incredible scripture for missionaries! i am the weak and simple! and the Lord wants ME to teach HIS gospel to the world! before kings and rulers! I might just take that literally and go teach the queen!

 

And last thing, sorry for the spiritual overload, but i had an incredible experience last week. when missionaries teach the investigators, we challenge them to read the Book of Mormonm pray about it, and find that it is true through feelings from the Holy Ghost. I started to feel a little werid when i would ask this of them when i in fact have never had that experience. do i know that the Book of Mormon is true? Absolutely. I know it through logic and feeling. But i have never had that pivital moment in my life. i have just always known that it is true. I was praying to Heavenly Father one night to have that experience. i prayed to know through the Spirit overcoming me that it is true. And I ended my prayer and just kneeled there for a while and listened. Nothing happened. i finally got up and realized that i needed to read my patriarchal blessing. so with a few mins left before it was time for lights out, i got out my blessing and read it. it told me: "you have been blessed to have been born when the gospel has been restored in its fullness and to have a testimony of its truthfulness." i then had a feeling that i needed to talk to either my MTC or mission pres about it whenever i got the chance. I thought it wouldnt be for a while but that was not the case! the very next morning all of the missionaries had seperate times set up for private interviews with the MTC president. And mine happened to be very first of all of the missionaries! i got in to the interview and everything was going well. he was just asking me some simple questions. then we were close to finishing and he asked if there was anything he could do for me or any other questions. I built up the courage and just layed it out! it surprised me but i started to cry. he told me that just like me, he has never had one of those "aha" moments either! but that he KNOWS, just like me, through reason and feeling that it is true. Immediately i felt peace. It was my favorite experience at the MTC.

 

We all dressed up for 4th of july and one day all the sisters wore a black skirt, white shirt, and scarf to mimic the elders outfits and typical boys, they never even noticed. We had to point it out.

Love,

Sister Curtis

 

oh, Play. Station. That sister who i flew with that i told you about, the pesimist, we were sitting with her at lunch one day and it made me laugh cuz she bluntly told us "i hate people". she went on and on about she hates people! you cant just hate people! and she said that at her farewell people kept coming up to talk to her and she just wanted to go home and for everyone to stop talking to her.

 

Now here is my letter for today that will cover since i have been out in the field:

 So i have been out in the field now for 4 and a half days! my trainer is sister Hymas from Riverton, UT. Jacob she blocked her FB before she left so sorry you cant stalk her. Her first name is Rachel though just in case. She is cool. She has been out 3 months now. Something way cool about our companionship: Off the bat she found out about my healthy eating and exercise obsession or whatever you want to call it. She said she was all game. In fact, she later told me that her last transfer she had been praying to Heavenly Father to send her a companion who would help her be healthier because I guess she has gained 20 lbs since she has been out. I think he did his job... So we eat soo healthy and exercise everyday! Her last companion was a rough one. She cooked a lot so they ate a ton and unhealthy and her last comp would sleep in an hour errday so they never got to exercise. NO BUENO. haha also i had our Relief society president make an announcement to the women that the sisters are trying to eat healthy so no desserts and lots of salads! They all thought it was a great idea! so hopefully they remember cuz we have dinner appts all the gosh dang time. And dont tell sister hymas but i hate dinner appts. To me they seam a little bit of a waste of time. We walk an hour to a members home, have to make conversation with an hour for them which feels fake and lots of silences, share a five minute message, ask for referalls which they have not had so far, and walk an hour home. But hopefully i will start to like them cuz we have a lot!

 

We are in an area called Milton Keynes and a sister came up to me and asked me if i knew a luke clayton and i guess he is in my zone! not my area but zone so pretty close! Oh and i guess there are only a few areas that are actually in london so fyi i aint in london. Milton Keynes is where its at. Look it up! It is gheeeettttooooo. hahaha. Sister Hymas and i are white washing!! so that is actually really hard and we are having a hard time. There has not been sisters in this area for 5 years i guess!! want to know why?? the last sisters had to be transferred because of gang violence, prostitution, yadi yadi goin on!! haha. oh also, i does not feel like england at all. I feel more like im in cali. Thats ok though! im supposed to be here so it doesnt bother me. There are 2 other missoinaries in this area but they are elders. both from utah. One is Elder Jensen from orem and the other is Elder Anderson from riverton who was actually my good friend in the MTC so thats exciting that we are out here together!!

 

Oh hey fam i have a favor to ask, if you wouldnt mind could you please get out of my dreams!! i think every night you have been in them so ya thats probably not best for me and stuff. You too friends, lyd lauren etc.

 

And second favor, PLEASE send me lots of pics from Sarahs wedding. We can make a deal. I will send you pics from England if you send me pics from wedding. Cool? Cool.

 

So we walk EVERYWHERE. No joke. We walk to dinner appt that are an hour away and walk back. Its great for the exercise aspect but it drains me and I feel like our time could be better spent. Also, weather has been SUNNY since we got here so props to mother nature. everyone says it wont last though. We will see...

 

there is an elder curtis in my disrtict! from alabama.

 

the mission is really really hard. everyday i think "what did i get myself in to" and i look forward to bed but every night when bed comes i keep thinking about how i am so excited for the next day. And I still would not trade a mission for anything. the thing that helps is when i think about what i would be doing if i were at home and really, nothing would help me to grow nearly as much a a mission.

 

last saturday night we had a really long day and i was super tired. I was praying for a half hour and had the prompting that sister H and i needed to fast the next day (sunday) so i got up from my prayer and said "guess what were doing tomorrow!? fasting!!!!" so we fasted for our potential investigators. Its really hard cuz we are not having any success with them. we dont even have one solid investigator yet but i know that Heavenly Father is just testing us and we need to keep working hard.

 

i have so much more i want to say but noo time. BUT i really really really like getting emails from you guys and i always have time to read them just not a lot of time to respond so PLEASE keep sending them.

 

ALSO, sarah, they had us watch a health thing at the MTC and i swear this guy doing a pullup is Nathaniel. Its weird. I will attach a pic. Please agree with me and say im not crazy.

Random things to know about England:

the light switches are backwards

people park on sidewalks

people at home who try to fake the accent, you are totally off so stop trying

they have small cars (smaller familes i suppose)

you bag your own groceries!

they dont use dryers for clothes

Week 2: MTC

hhii  ffaamm  ssoorrrryy  tthhiiss  hhaass  ttoo  bbee  rreeaall  qquuiicckk  ccuuzz  tthheeyy  aarree  oonnllyy  ggiivviinngg  uuss  ffiivvee  mmiinnuutteess  ttoo  tteellll  yyoouu  tthhaatt  iimm  ssaaffee  aanndd  wwiillll  bbee  hheeaaddiinngg  ttoo  LLoonnddoonn  wweeddnneessddaayy  mmoorrnniinngg!!  ssoo  ttuueessddaayy  nniigghhtt  ffoorr  yyoouu  gguuyyss.  ssoorrrryy  iittss  ddoouubbllee  lleetttteerrss  ii  ddoonntt  hhaavvee  ttiimmee  ttoo  ffiinndd  aa  nneeww  ccoommppuutteerr.  bbuutt  ii  lloovvee  yyoouu  aallll  aanndd  ii  wwiillll  eemmaaiill  yyoouu  mmoorree  oonn  mmoonnddaayy  wwhheenn  ii  wwiillll  hhaavvee  mmyy  ffiirrsstt  rreeaall  pp--ddaayy  oouutt  iinn  lloonnddoonn!!  aanndd  iillll  ggeett  mmyy  rreeaall  aaddddrreessss  ttoo  yyoouu  tthheenn!!  ppss  ii  ddiiddnntt  hhaavvee  ttiimmee  ttoo  rreeaadd  aannyy  ooff  yyoouurr  eeaammiillss  bbuutt  ii  pprriinntteedd  tthheemm  ooffff  aanndd  wwiillll  rreessppoonndd  oonn  mmoonnddaayy!!  ::))

Week 1 (again): MTC

Hello! ok i am going to try to tell you everything but im so sorry i have to be quick. It is my first pday here and i dont have much time to read your email but I will send you my email then respond to your email next week. does that make sense? I can just print it and read it and reply next week ya? Also i dont have time to make it organized so it might be hard to read but i figure anything will be better than my last letter! I made sure that I got a good computer this time. OK here goes...

It rains all the time here! I have heard the weather in london is a bit better but not much. Were just in preston right now.

They keep us busy here! there is never any downtime. Its a good thing! it will most definitely take some getting used to though. i love feeling productive and i love learning! i just wish that i could have the gift of endless energy and to never be tired.

They also keep it cold here! i think its because all of the elders are normally hot from their suit jackets.

my companion is Sister Larson. She is cool! (mom and sarah, we met her friend and sarahs shower) From what i have observed, she has a strong testimony. At first, i thought she was really quiet but its great to see her personality unfold. But the best part of all is that she is willing to exercise with me and it makes me happy! We wake up in the morning to go running. Ooh and get this, she is a cosmetologist too!! What are the chances? Slim, I tell ya.

We also say a lot of prayers here! I would guess we have probably said 30 prayers today. And, I was called on 3 times to say it in big meetings. I don't mind though:)

I dont have much time in the morning to get ready so it's a braid and bun for me most the time. But guess what, it doesnt even bother me! I like the fact that im not so focused on my appearance here and that my mind lets me focus on other things. We also sing a lot of hymns here! I wont try to sugar coat it, i dont like singing hyms. If it were up to me, we would skip the hymn altogether. But, i sing happily anyway. haha i know this is hard to believe but i am actually probably the best singer in my district. so that can give you an idea of how bad our district is. We struggle...I love my district though! they are all like my brothers. The only thing that is hard with them is they goof off a lot and it is hard to stay focused and exactly obedient. It sounds werid, but I worry that i am losing my personality. Im a funny, outgoing, happy person and between being tired, not wanting to goof off, and trying to be exactly obedient, its hard to stay myself. Cuz, i will be honest with you, myself is not someone who would study the scriptures for 6 hours a day and focus on the gospel 24/7. So i just need to try to find the balance of it all.

I am learning a lot here and I feel the spirit with me everywhere i go! We role play a lot here with fake investigators and I feel confident with it but I cant wait til I can be better.

I try not to think too much about family and friends. If i do, it just makes me sad. I think i start to miss you guys the most at night becuase I have so much time to think which doesnt happen during the day. Also, when I think about how long it will be (18 months).

The MTC is incredible though, there is soo much to learn. One of my biggest worries right now is that I am too tired to be able to always stay alert and focused. I kid you not, my eyes cannot stay open! The schedule is so strenuous. I keep praying to the Lord though to help this to not hinder me and for it to pass. I know that he is listening and with my faith, he can do all things (1 ne 7:12). I know that he is mindful of me. When I opened my journal to write all of this down, I read a verse that was on the bottom of the page (there is a verse on every page) and it said: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength...they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Good stuff right?

A few days ago, we had assigned exercise time and it was one of the happiest hours of my life! I NEED that outlet. my companion is very easy going and will do whatever so we got to play soccer. We were the only girls there with 20 other elders but we didnt mind! Ooh also, i wore my Crossfit cedar ridge tshirt in honor of my crossfit family back at home. I miss crossfit. I dont know how to say this in a humble way so i apologize in adcance for the lack of humility, but i was on fire! (for lack of a better phrase) i schooled all of them! the elders and teacher playing wih us were all impressed. I think that its just becasue they have never seen a girl who was actually good at sports before. Sister larson and I will usually wake up at 540 to go running in the morning, then we have an hour in the afternoon that we will play sports with the elders and i will usually get a 15 min crossfit workout in. I even got some of the elders to join in yesterday haha they were dead tired it was hilarious. And a couple days ago, we played basketball and I beat 20 elders in Speed! haha the MTC quickly found out that I am a very athletic, fitness guru. And they all know that i eat healthy too. My district calls me sister Rabbit because i eat so much salad!

Like i said before, i braid and bun it up for hair almost everyday. Haha it was so funny the other day we tried one of the sisters straighteners and it worked for 5 mins but then...boom goes the dynamite! it exploded and smoke was coming out of it!

The food here is alright! I usually dont like the maincourse because its pretty unhealthy (burgers, fries, bread bowls, fried meat, pasta, etc) but without fail, they always have a salad for lunch and dinner! all of their dressings are unhealthy but they sometimes have salsa so i just use that! they also always have fruit. And for breakfast i eat yogurt, banana, and granola. I cant complain:) I am best friends with the Chef here. were are pretty tight. He always tells me im so good for not eating the unhealthy stuff and he makes sure to keep the salad stocked for me. Mom and Jacob I have not lost on the no junk food bet yet! How is it going for you guys? I know you think you can win, but you have to remember that I am doing a lot of good things in my life right now so the Lord might be on my side:)

Thank you mom for putting money to my account! Much appreciated.

Like I said before, my biggest worries so far are being tired, and being exactly obedient while still keeping my personality. My third worry is definitely the language. I have never been good with learning languages. I took 2 years of Spanish in high school and could never even have a conversation with someone! I know that the Lord will help me to learn it but you would never believe how hard it is i didnt think it would be this hard. I see progress everyday though. Today I had a full conversation with someone! thats success right there.

haha there is a very funny asian elder here. The other day we were taking a picture and the woman taking the pic kept saying that everyone needed to make sure to not play with their hair, shut their eyes, etc when it was snapped. Then he said, I'm sorry I cant help it, its just my race! hahaha it made my day.

I know that family members on missions bless familys (d&c100 or 104?) and I want to know if there is any one i need to be praying for back at home? How is everyone? How can I help with things?

How was Sarahs wedding? I kept thinking about it all day and converting the time over to see what Utah would be and guessing what you guys would be doing then.

I love you all. I am growing a lot here. Half the time i love the mtc but a lot of times it is really hard. Never have i once regretted my decision though and i know i never will. A mission strengthen a person in so many ways. I cannot wait to grow everyday and I know that it will make me such a better person.

I got all of your emails, but will probably only have time to respond to one fam member directly a week along with a letter to everyone. I will try my best though. Oh also, i have a new address for you for when im in the feild that i can get to you next week. Dont bother sending letters to the mtc.

Nicole i loved your letter and want to have a lot of time to respond back to it so i will wait til next week. Keep me updated and im might forget something so sorry if i send you another email in a few mins! love you! the gospel is true and will bless lives.

Love,

Sister Rabbit