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!

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

transfers and trainer

Homies,

this week we met with a man named stephen. We were going through some of the previously taught people a while back. We prayed to the Lord that we would find someone to teach from the phone calls that we would make that evening. Our first phone call was to Stephen! We met with him and he told us how he has recently had to rely on God due to surgeries and what not and has been wanting to increase his faith more. He is also a descendant of Joseph Smith! He showed us a book that he had from his ancestors who helped build the St george temple. A few days later we say the Gowans (less active family) and they pulled out this same exact book and were tellin us about their ancestors! Our less active and investigator are related! weird...they live 10 mins away from each other and never would have even known. We're excited to teach him!

So now for the big news...transfers!! Moves calls were last night. Alright every body make your guesses!! but really, guess. keep guessing....what is going to happen...??? oh my goodness the suspense just keeps building and what if i leave you hanging and never even tell you, that would be so mean of me!! Alright alright here it is: Sister Hymas will be leaving the land of Milton Keynes and entering Kingsland which is way up North. She will be with a sister who was in the MTC with her! as for me, president called and gave me my new assignment. I will be staying in the land of Milton Keynes for my 3rd transfer in a row! Aaand I will be TRAINING!!!! Whaa?!?! I'm going to be a trainer? I will be training a brand new missionary! I feel very blessed that the Lord and President Jordan trust me with this calling. I also feel very inadequate but Im trying to brush that off since I know those thoughts are not from the Lord. I'm happy that the Lord trusts me with one of his children; the future of this mission. Any tips?
Harry is great. He is still scheduled for baptism on October 19th as long as he keeps his commitments. 2 great things from him: i think i already told you this but he said how before meeting with us he used to hate some people but now he just loves them and doesnt hate anyone! Also, yesterday in our lesson he told us how he was on mormon.org and he tried out the chat thingy they have. He was chatting with them and he was really excited when  he was telling us about it cuz he asked the person if he could share about God and the gospel and the church after he was baptised and the chatter person told him he could and he was happy cuz he wants to share it with other people! for lack of a better word, presious!
On another note, this week the missionaries in our district were asked to sing at an 8 yr olds baptism. Well, there are 6 missionaries in our district. One of them got really sick (there is something nasty going around everybody has it) so that companionship couldn't make it. And the other elders got a last minute dinner appointment with a family from the ward so of course they took that and bailed leaving only Sister Hymas and I!! We ended up singing at the mike in the chapel in front of like 50 people for this baptism. Yikes. we had like a day heads up to practice. It went really well though! we sang "i hope they call me on a mission". It was fun!

On a second another note, our ward had an activity this week! you have to understand, this is huge on the account of we never have activites. twice a year maybe. The missionaries were the ones who instituted this activity and the RS president put it together (she is so great. Sister White for president!). It was a cultural food night where every one brought food from their cultures and and was way fun! Only problem was, sister H and I had like 2 months to figure out a dish and of course we waited til the day of. We stressed about it we had nothing! Plus, it doesnt help that we are poor as dirt (how can dirt be poor? that doesnt even make sense) and couldnt afford anything! we ended up buying brownies cuz apparently they are american (who new?). It was a stinkin from the box foods where all you have to do is add like water, egg, and oil and guess what?? we FAILED. we did not have a proper pan so we put half the batter in a bread pan and the outside cooked but inside was gooey. then we decided to put the rest of the batter on a cookie sheet and they got burnt and would not even come off of the pan and they were so hard! I attached a piture so that you could see. Well, in the end it actually turned out great cuz, being the geniouses we are, decided to take the batch from the bread pan and scoop it all out then roll it in to balls then stick it back in the oven then melt a chocolate bar and put that on top. That is pure magic right there. They ended up great and all got eaten! i've attached a picture of that as well.

On a third another note, a girl from our ward, Briony Web was so stinkin nice to us! She knew sister H was sick at the beginning of the week and dropped off a present for us! i know people say this and might not mean it, but it was probably on top 5 list of nicest things any one has done for me. I attached a picture.

im so excited for general conference! yippy! we are so blessed to have a prophet that leads and guides the church today. Im very greatful that I did not live in a time of apostasy.

Dad- a man in my ward keeps asking me and i feel really bad that i dont have an answer for him. Are we related to a David Curtis? He is from the first wife of Brigham Young. The man in my ward was baptised by him 50 yrs ago. David just left on a mission with his wife. This is about all the info i have but maybe you can do some research with that? Also, i would LOVE more research from our ancestors from England! that would be really great!
Mom-sounds like you had a busy but fun week!
josh-paha your letter made me laugh a lot it was so funny to me. Our district does moves predictions with each transfer! last transfer i got every missionary right!
kirsten-how is interior designing and the blog?
zane- thanks for the update on the jazz. Hope school is going well.
Jake- good good.
Gil-have you decided what you want to do with your life yet? I think i know if you dont already. Youre going to be a personal trainer, i can totally see it. p.s. your quotes from sjs quote book are hilarious.
sarah-i got your letter this week! i will write you back today. are you still putting my emails up on the blog? Also, could  you tell brian lingham that our sport night had 22 people at it last week! he will understand. he is the founder of sport night and its only ever had like 7 people there. its growing!
Pokie-i got your letter this week also! and will write you back hopefully soon. Keep being awesome.
jett-can you draw me another picture sometime soon please? thanks.
jane- im sorry your brother is mean to you sometimes. He is just in that phase so dont take it personally.
bandit-there are a LOT of dogs here in England. Dont worry, none of them are as cute as you.
romie- oh wait...awkward.

pictures:

 me planking outside our flat in the morning right before running. it was really foggy that day and i wanted a picture

 the present

 brownies... the end result!

 brownies...i think

  me being betty crocker with our brownies

subway

well hello there,

Hi family. How are you? How is school? How are the elections? How is P-town? How is Bandit? How are the Utah Jazz?

well guess what?! transfers are next week. crazy right? it seems like it was just transfers for the last one. So, because sister Hymas and I have been together for 2 transfers now, it is unlikely that we will be again so i will probably get a new companion. WEIRD. I really like sister h so its really super sad but at the same time change will be fun! Any guesses of what will happen to me? My guess is that Im staying and sister h will be leaving. Who knows though? not me thats for sure!

So let me tell you about one of our investigators! His name is Harry. We met him 2 P-days (so 2 weeks ago) ago at Subway. (sorry if i have arleady told you about him i really dont remember but as i am typing this i actually do remember that i have never told you about him but i am too lazy to delete this so i will just keep it anyway). I was really bumped that we had to spend money to eat out cuz i dont like to do that but we had no time to go back to the flat so we went to subway. Harry works at subway and he was making me my salad and sister hymas' sandwich! we were talking with him and invited him to church and to learn more. Because there was a line, we didnt have much time but we gave him our card with our number on it and told him to message us. We got a text ten minutes later! We taught him the next day and long story short he is set for babtism on October 19th if all goes well! he is making and keeping commitments so with a lot of prayers he will keep progressing. only sad part is that transfers are soon but thats ok. it will be sad to miss his baptism if i get transferred but i guess thats just all a part of mission life!
Sister Hymas woke up saturday morning feeling really sick and it has gotten worse. its not anything too bad its just a bad sore throat, headache, cough, stuffy nose, etc. We worked all day saturday and went to church sunday but she was just too sick so we spent all day sunday after church in the flat. Well, let me tell ya, that was weird.  Dont misunderstand me when i say this, but it was REALLY great to just get to stay in the flat all day. When does that ever happen?! Not often thats for sure. She spent the whole day sleeping and trying to get better. As for myself, I had a grand ole time! I went through the old area book from 5 yrs ago when the last sisters where here and tried to find some people to teach, i ate, i watched a movie about how families can be together forever. I tried to take a nap but my mind WOULD NOT let me. haha how sad is that? I seriously couldnt sleep because all i wanted to do was study! so i got up and studied for the rest of the time. I did some of what i like to call "selfish studying". This is where I got to study whatever i wanted that did not pertain to being a missionary! So of course i studied the doctrine and covenants because thats my favorite. Then this morning i made her breakfast in bed! it was so fun i got to be her mommy. and i made her dinner last night as well.
HAHAHA speaking of sister hymas, she told me this morning that i slept talked last night! And guess what? I was teaching a lesson to Harry in my sleep! I was teaching him about the 10 commandments and asking him quetions n such. Funny huh?
also, david is doing great! he has come to church 4 times in a row now and we dont even have to encourage him or call him or anything. he is making this journey back in to the church and im so grateful we were able to help initially get him back in. Also, he is praying and reading with his kids so hopefully his partner will give the ok soon for missionaries to come teach their family! (p.s. partner in england does not mean what it means in america. it just means spouse)
dad- I had a dream about your elections. Cant remember much but we were just doing a lot of campaining! How are they going?
mom- hi.how is tennis? how are things?
kirsten and josh- how is/was denmark?
zane- HAPPY BIRTHDAY on Sunday! wow, 33 years old. I swear those years just flew by! It seams like just yesterday you were only 26.
mary-how is florida and being the wife of someone who im sure is studying alll the time?
jacob-your pictures are cool. im assuming since i didnt get an email from you this week that you were in a serious car accident and that you have been stuck in a coma, in the hospital and you asked for a computer to email me but they wouldnt let you on the account of your in a coma and that actually would not even be possible for you to ask them cuz youre not talking. get better soon, no more car crashes.
gil-thanks for your email. i guess this is where the phrase "its the thought that counts" would come in. haha no i liked your email it was great. you make me laugh so keep it up.
sarah- how is school? i bet its really hard. good thing your smart or that would be a bummer huh?!
pokety- stay out of trouble. remember who you are. choose the right. keep your standards. do your homework. dont hang out with boys. keep your room clean. and write me letters:) love you.
bandit-you have my permission to rade the cupboards for any food that you want to eat.
jett- you've been in my dreams a couple times. thanks for the drawing.
jane-sorry but you have not been in my dreams, at all. i guess that means i dont love you as much. sorry its not my fault its just that you never talked or played on the tramp with me or told me you loved me or gave me hugs when i was around so its kinda inevitable since jett did all of those things.

elbow patches

Family,
 first things first, right now I am wearing my favorite sweater that I just barely bought and you wanna know why its my favorite? Cuz it has elbow patches! I love elbow patches. I bought 2 with elbow patches! So yes, I got a few winter items. I got some boots and sweaters. As you can see from my picture, my boots are a little worn...
crazy that Alison got her call to nashville tennessee on the account of i have so many friends that live/are from/are on missions there!
Jake says that Jane is not just a blob of boring any more so Im excited about that! dont let her grow up too much though!

I really love the scriptures.

Mom and Dad, thank you for the $$. I will use it wisely. The exchange right is thumbs down over here. for every $1.65 it is £1 over here.
Dad-whoa! just read your story right after I typed Kirstens portion and guess what?! your experience is even more like that talk about the man who did not drink the wine at the televised function and he was promoted for it! Wow. You should look that up cuz your experience is very similar to it.
Mom- you should do whatever makes you happy with your hair! if you want to get a wig then get a wig! i would suggest you dont though because you are beautiful the way that you are! You are so pretty. Where do you think that Kirsten, Sarah, and Nicole got there looks from? (no offense to you dad. Zane and Jake got there looks from you so no worries)
Zane-so one time you mentioned something in one of your emails that made me super happy and I jumped a little cuz I was pumped. This thing shall remain unsaid but hopefully you get what I'm sayin. If not, we can talk later.
Mary-thank you for the workouts. Ive tried most of them and am excited to try the rest!
Sarah- I am so happy that you won your race and you had to do the most running. You make me a proud sister.
Gil-I never thought about that before that the word for a female hero is also the name for a highly addictive drug. Though it may sound crued, I support you calling me Heroine 100%. Sister Heroine would be a bit more appropriate though I suppose.
Jacob- you put up a youtube video with over 600,000 views and a radio shoutout!? wha???haha i read your letter and I was laughing cuz it was so funny! But also SOO goood. (here all the missionaries say "soo goood" all the time and i dont know why but i dont like it. sometimes i catch myself saying it but i chastise myself err time that i do. I think they say it cuz no one here in england says "cool" or "awesome").
Also, I totally support your biking phase. I want to get in to biking when I get back for sure.
Kirsten- yay! Heavenly Father does answer prayers! Thank you for sharing that special story with me. I am so happy that you never lower your standards for anyone. It makes me think of the talk of the man who did not drink from the wine and he ended up getting a higher position at work for it.
Also, i know so sad that BYU does not have interior design that would be bomb. We will see what happens. I loved all of your suggestions!
Josh- so great about the investigator! serving in Utah would be so amazing to have members that are so readily wanting to help out.
Nicole- hopefully you have got my letter by now!
Bandit- stay alive!
Jett and Jane- stop growing!

In case any one is confused on Jacobs, Kirstens, Joshes, or Dads, i have included clips of their stories to share so that it will make more sense:
Dads: The Chinese have a custom of toasting. Not just once at a dinner but all throughout the dinner. It starts with one toast by the host and then everyone at the table walks around and offers toasts to the others at the table. The last two nights I was at two of the largest round tables I have ever seen. The first night there were about 50 people sitting around one very large table. For several hours the guest walked around while they eat and toasted each other. It was impossible for me to avoid because even if I stayed in my seat they came to me. It was a table full of dignitaries. Mayors from around the world in including Africa, Australia and Thailand. As I sat down for dinner both times I found a wine glass full of wine at my seat with a picture of wine next to it. I quickly found the waitress and told her to please replace my wine with soda. For some reason both nights this very confusing for them. They ended up taking my wine glass totally away and I was left with only a glass of water in a very different shape than the wine glass. Four hours the toasting went on. I found myself posing for pictures with my silly glass holding it up to their wine glass. Finally I found the host and explained that I did not wish to insult them but rather I was not drinking wine for religious purposes. This was not easy for them to understand because they have so little religion in china. As I was explaining an interpreter joined us who had lived outside china for 10 years.  She was very helpful in explaining the religious significance of my situation.  
The host smiled and with a little joke in his voice said, “I need to join your church so I don’t have to drink anymore.” It was clear that while he didn’t really understand what it meant to join our church that he didn’t enjoy the drinking and thought it was pretty cool that I didn’t drink. As we were leaving for the night he once again smiled and said, “I found another reason to join your church. If I join I don’t have to smoke anymore.” I learned that my two other partners from Utah who sat at different parts of the table had similar experiences explaining why they were not drinking. It’s a very small thing but in a county where missionaries are not allowed and tourist are forbidden from talking about religion I was able to leave a very positive impression on some of the countries decision makers. This is significant to me because about a year ago I had am impression that I needed to regain my Chinese so I could serve the Church when and if they needed me. I had supposed it was for after retirement but it was fun to see the prompting so soon bear fruit.

Jacobs: Throughout the day, it slowly started accumulating views. I went to a class in the afternoon and it was at 1,000 views, and I was like, "oh man, that's awesome. I can't believe I put a video up that has a thousand views!" I thought that would be the end of it, but after class, it was at 10,000. From there, it just kept growing. By the time I went to bed it was at 90,000. The next morning, I googled my title and saw that a bunch of websites were talking about it. A bunch of people were talking about how we should treat customer service reps better, but a bunch of people were also talking about how customer service are terrible and were sympathizing with the customer. They were also trying to figure out which company it was. Everyone was guessing Comcast. I didn't tell anyone it was Vivint because I don't want to get in trouble with them. Anyways, By the end of Thursday night, it was like at 200,000 views. Yesterday morning, Kirsten called me because she was listening to the radio and a station was playing my call. So, right now, it's at 650,000 views.  I think things have kind of plateaued, which is fine. It's been a fun experience.

Kirstens:We spend the night last night with some of our best friends up in Park City and it was amazing. I have a semi-cool experience I"ll share with you. Our friends are amazing and wonderful people and all very strong in the church but not all of them share the exact same standards that we have. For example the plan for the evening was to go out to dinner and then hot tubbing. Keep in mind this was all on a Sunday. I never want to lower my standards for anyone but these are my closest friends in the world and I also didnt' want to offend them. We decided to eat dinner with Josh's mom so we were able to avoid going out to dinner with them. In turn they all figured out they'd rather eat with their families as well so no one ended up going out to dinner. However, there was still the hot tub situation. I was particularly worried about this one. I prayed in the car ride up to the hotel that it would all work out. When we got to the hotel our friend told me that she had forgotten her swim suit and she was so disappointed she wouldn't be able to go in the hot tub! Because she couldn't go everyone else decided that we would just stay at the hotel and play games instead. Although this was a small thing it is a very distinct reminder to me that Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of my needs and also answers my prayers. 

Josh: Something cool happened at church yesterday. We had a real live investigator come!  He lives in our ward and a member of our ward just invited him to come to church and take the discussions and he agreed!  I spoke in sacrament and for some reason he really liked what I said. I introduced myself to him after the meeting and he had me email him a copy of my talk. He also took notes in all of our classes!  Whaaaa!?  The missionaries teach him in the mornings and I want him taught in our home while I am home and not flying. It is a great and rare opportunity that doesn't come around a lot in Utah. So wish us luck. His name is Leslie. I know kind of a girl name but whatever.

Pictures:
1) me heal clicking in England
2)sister Hymas and I
3) my favorite boots that i wear every day that might need a break...what do you think?

 

Love always,

Sister Curtis