family

Family,

WOW. a lot happened this week. I dont even know where to start. In fact, I dont think that I will start. I feel like I can't explain all of this to you in one short email so I think I will have to gather my thoughts about it in a journal entry then email that to you maybe next week. What I will say for now is this: I had an incredible spiritual experience this week. I felt the Holy Ghost in a way that I have never before, or atleast in a way that i have never recognized so clearly before. Long story short (for now) David will not be getting baptised. BUT its alright:) i look forward to sharing with you my experience sometime down the road.

Alright so here is just a whole bunch of random thoughts that i am about to pour out of this brain! ready go!:

The other week sister H and i taught relief society and it was great! we talked about member missionary work and it went so well! we hardly had time to prepare for it but the spirit definitely helped us out. There were people crying cuz they were really touched and hopefully this can help the ward!
I am really nervous I will not have warm enough clothes for this place...
Any time that I get sad or discouraged out here i just think to myself "atleast im not in school and having to take a test!" haha. It helps!
Oh! so here is a noteworthy thing! I had a cool experience this week. There was one night where I woke up in the middle of the night and out of nowhere the thought came to my head "I need to be an interior designer!" Whaaa??? Really random. I dont know why that happened cuz Im not sure if i was even dreaming about it. Then right after I thought "i need to tell my family and especially kirsten!" So...this is me telling you. Also, super crazy cuz just that day we had visited a couple in the ward and he was asking us about what we would be doing with our lives and how it is not a bad idea to start thinking about it. I remember I used to want to be an interior designer. I dont know what happened to that i think it kinda just faded. I think that I would like it a lot! Not sure if this was inspired or not but I think somewhere down the road I will find out! Thoughts??

I am runnin broke hur so I am trying to be really thrifty these days. Money would help. The main thing I need is just a winter wardrobe. But maybe not. It would be good for me to face the cold with just a wee sweater and broken healed boots because I think that it would help me to build an immunity to it! So maybe you should just not send anything and force me to adapt! But ya, money would be good. Oh! ALso maybe some wool sweaters and tights and gloves. I thought this might be a good idea: you could buy some online and then just have them shipped to my address! WOOL would be great. But as I am typing this i am realizing how needy and selfish i am sounding so maybe you should just disregard this whole paragraph. But nonetheless, my idea can still be accounted for a great idea so lets not discredit that. Sister Hymas said she found some great wool at "woolovers.com" website.
so here is for anyone who loves me: hey! so here is a crazy idea. what do you think the chances of you getting a thumb drive and putting music on it and sendin it my way are? you are probably really busy with school or work or soccer or being mayor or your kids or in china or denmark or florida so thats alright if you cant. it would be great but is not needed. what would be REALLY great would be DAVID ARCHULETA and KALAI church songs. We are allowed to listen to anything that does not drive the spirit away. i listen to my music now on just a thumbdrive so that is the best way.

WOw i sound so needy in this email! Surry. I promise im not this needy to my companion. Only when i make her give me a backrub or tell me a bedtime story or kill a spider (ok wait i kill ALL this spiders around this place. i have killed about 7 now).

 

is jacob still crossfitting?! i hope so. i miss it. i wear my crossfit shirt every night to bed. my arms have lost all muscle that they have ever had. i took a picture but am too embarrassed to send it. maybe i will have the courage next week...i still exercise though!

 i think that we have the best family in the world. Jake, this week for some reason i kept thinking about you during halloween when you handed out the candy and for some reason that was the funniest thing to me. you were in your spongebob costume and would just throw all the candy at all the children and give them each like 5 candy bars! i dont know why but that was really funny to me. if you do that again this halloween, i am really sad actually that i will miss out on it so maybe you can film it for me? ok anyway, yes we have the best family. i love you all SOOO much. anybody who ever gets to marry in to this family should have to pay like 50 cows cuz we really are the best.

 

last thing. i want to answer any questions that any of you have that i have forgotten about or have not had the chance to answer so this week just send me lists of questions that you might have if you have any! then i can answer them all in one go!

Love,

Sister Curtis

p.s. sorry i ramble on and on and all i do is ramble but its the best way to express my thoughts so sorry bout it!

sarah said that you cant see my pictures? thats cool. Let me know if that is the case cuz i will stop sendin them.

pictures:

1) jacob at the airport sneaking a picture before i left for england

2) swan that hissed at me!

3)england fog

4) a really attractive picture of me in the MTC a while back

 

Hiya!

Hiya!

 

Well, a lot to catch you up on this week! I dont know where to even start. I will start with the Leaps family: The Leaps are great. The mom is less active and she has 3 kids and 2 that live at home. We have been visiting them very frequently on the account of her 15 year old daughter is not baptised (neither is the other but he is always gone) and the mom struggles with word of wisdom. They came to church last week, the mom is doing great with keeping the word of wisdom, and the daughter is taking the lessons and reading!! Now for the Gowan family. The Gowans are fantastic my goodness. There is a mom and dad, 12, 3, and 2 yr old. They have been less active for 2 yrs now. We have visited them quite a few times and the last visit with them the mom just poured out to us as soon as we got in the room about how badly she wants her family reactivated! She wants the gospel in her kids lives. They came to church yesterday! ALSO way cool story. A couple visits ago with them the dad mentioned his mother, Pam, (nonmember) and we felt promted to ask if she would appreciate a visit. He said that she is strong catholic and not open to mormons but a visit probably would be fine. So we visited her a few days later. She opened the door about one foot and stuck her head out. She was hesitant at first but we were able to gain her trust and make her feel comfortable. We were very gentle with her and let her know who we were and eventually she opened up. Her mom died just a few months ago and she is still very tender about it. We shared with her Alma 40:11-12 and, my goodness, the Spirit filled her and wound and wove in her! She was in tears and told us how comforting those verses were. Since she loved the verses so much we gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read all of ch. 40 and she complied. We said a prayer with her and you could just tell that she was absolutely touched. It is so rewarding to know that someone has felt the Spirit through your presence or what you have said or done. So, we decided to visit her again this week and give her a note this time. We were able to talk with her for about a half hr on her doorstep. At first her door was more closed than open but by the end it was completely open! She even said that she would invite us in but she had just gotten dinner ready. She told us that she would be willing and wanted to learn more and that what she had read is actually quite similar to what she knows. ALSO she told us how she just found out that some of her ancestors were Mormon and that most definitely got her more interested! AND it got her sister interested and is visiting Pam soon and wants to learn more! It is incredible what is happening to the whole Gowan family! We envision teaching the Gowans and Pam the lessons together and them learning and growing together! This Tuesday we have an apt to teach Pam and the Gowans at the Gowans home.

Ok next topic, David: So you do not know anything about David and thats only cuz we met him 2 weeks ago and have had 2 lessons with him. We met David on our way to 2 apts (none of which happened to go through/were home). He is a postman and he was on duty at the time! We smiled and said hello to him and he was very friendly and said that he knew who missionaries were! He is very familiar with what we do and knew some years ago. We got his information and he agreed to visit with us the following week (this past week). Long story short, David is an absolute miracle. In our first lesson with him he knew so much about our church already! He did a lot of homework before. I kid you not, there were 3 times in the lesson where I legitimately thought to myself: "this guy is pranking us. He is a member already and he is just having the time of his life right now inside his head, just humoring us! Am I being punked?!" Well, our first visit we committed him to read and pray. Flash forward to our next lesson: It's a bird! It's a plane! No its a baptismal date! Guess what!? We had our second lesson with David and we extended an invitation for him to be baptised (i got to say it, it was so fun)! We first started our lesson with going over what he read from the BofM. He read all of Moroni 10 and the intro. He really liked it! He said it was very powerful. He said that he prayed as well. He really likes what he is learning and even that that after he read he had a thought come to mind. 10 yrs ago David met with some missionaries and one of them left him with a BofM, D&C, Bible, and hymn book in french (he is french) with a case and told him that one day he would use them. Well, when David was reading he was reminded of this and after looking in his things for hours he was able to find them! he said how amazing htis experience was for him and his in not sure yet but maybe this is an answer! After i extended the invitation (as you come to know for yourself that these things are true will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptised by someone holding the priesthood authority of God) he said yes, if he comes to know these things are true then of course he would want to because it is one of the things we need to do to return to live with our Heavenly Father! So then sister Hymas said how we have been praying and feel that the 21st of September is right for him to be baptised on. Haha at first he was really shocked because it is so soon! But after talking with him about it he feels more comfortable with it. The next day was church and he came to church! It was fantastic! He said it was so powerful and that he felt like it was one big family and he was excited to be a part of it! It was a fantastic testimony meeting. David is a VERY friendly and smiley guy so he got along really well with everyone and made a lot of friends. Like i said before, it is all just coming too easily! I guess when you thing about ti in terms of all of the tough things and heartaches and trials we have had last transfer it has not come easily but davids journey had thus far! The Lord works in mysterious ways I guess...A lot of this just seems to good to be real. He is a perfect student/investigator. he reads and prays, he marks his scriptures, he comes with questions, HE calls US to cinfirm apts., and he knows something about everything we teach him! I am just soooo nervous that i will open my heart and get excited and then for some reason we will lose him. Gosh, I feel like I am dating! haha. Anyway, that is David. Please pray for him and Sept 21st!
Random thoughts:
Congrats to Dad on the primary elections! You smoked em dad well done. Show em who is boss. I am actually very sad that I cant be there for elections so dont rub it in too much. Ooh sooo sad. this week i did a load of wash and my john curtis t shirt got died an ugle blue colour!! eww. It makes me really sad cuz i wear it a lot actually.
I have decided what I want to do with my life!!! Drum roll please......a want to be a scriptorian! Ahh i LOOOOOVE the scriptures! So much. I wish that I could just read from them all day err day. So how do I go about being a scriptorian? Are there courses for that or is it something you just do?
Am I related to a Dan Curtis? Or a Tony Curtis? Dan served his mission here years ago and baptised someone in my ward. Tony is a famous singer. Err body keeps asking me so some answers for them would be swell.
I have a fantastic ward here. I love all of the members and will be really sad when i have to leave them. The bishop has been bishop for 11 yrs!! it is a small ward and an interesting ward but i love it.
One of the hardest things for me lately is seeing how wicked the world is. Also, how there are sooo many souls to save! I am just so concerned for the salvation of every soul! WHY do more people not accept the gospel?! I cannot help but ache inside every time that we get rejected because i just think to myself of how they need to be saved!
Here in Milton Keynes, they dont have intersections! Its all a round about system so there are soo many roundabouts!
Is Collin Galland ok!? That is such a sad thing I hope everything is ok.

Dad, Yes some money to my account would actually be much appreciated if you do not mind. How is China?
Mom, same as what i said to dad, money would be great. Also mom, a few emails ago you asked me about if what white washing is and white washing is when both of the companions in the companionship are new to the area. So yes, Sister Hymas and I white washed milton keynes last transfer (we are still here this transfer) BUT we also opened the area! This means that there has not been sisters here for a while (in our case 5 yrs) and so we had to start from scratch! So i am a white washing, opening up area missionary:)
Kirsten: I read a quote from the book every morning to my companion in our companion study:)
kirsten and josh: How is Denmark!?
Jett and Jane: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You guys are so ooold.
Zane and mary, so cool youre having the missionaries over! and thanks mar for the workouts they should be great!

Jacob, well done on the GRE!! wow, you are so smart. I bet it all came from me helping you study for those few hours in the car that one time:)
Sarah, or anyone really, could you please find a way to put the pics up on fb cuz friends ask me for em but i dont have time to send them all again. thanks:)

Pokie, got your letter and should hopefully send one soon.

bandit, stay alive.

englandooo

Hiya! (thats how they say it here)

 

not a lot to say this week but i figured i said a lot last week so that makes up for it!

 

1.So I have not officially completed my first transfer! how exciting, right? I think I will have 12 transfers total so wahoo! So, drum roll please...I am staying in Milton Keynes! And I get to stay with Sister Hymas as well! We still have work to do with milton keynes. We could both feel it that we would stay. Many miracles waiting for us!

2.So last week we had a mission wide meeting and Elder Evans from the 70 spoke to us. LISTEN TO THIS. He told us that there is no finer mission president than President Jordan, my mission president. How cool is that?! Of all of the mission presidents he told us ours is the best! (he didnt say best but cmon we all know thats what he meant). President Jordan is amazing though, for sure.

3. Last week sister hymas and i knocked on a womans door who let us in and was super nice and we talked with her for a while. She is catholic and told us we could never convert her but she is really nice so we still like talking with her and who knows! anyway, she told us of how her husband died from MS years ago and i told her about Samantha Gramse and how she is fighting MS. Well that night we got a phone call from this lady and it was the cutest thing ever cuz she asked me what my cousins name was who has MS because she wanted to pray for her! So extra blessings coming Sams way!

4. How did soccer tryouts go for nokes?

5. One of the biggest things that I have learned on my mission (i guess two) is that I was immature and did not have my priorities straight before. I knew that family, and the gospel came first. But often times we get so caught up in silly things at home. I have had to do a lot of repenting for not reading my scriptures enough, not focusing on the Savior enough, and focusing too much on things of the world. I know its only been a little over a month but I feel like I have grown so much! Which is way cool cuz think about how much more I can grow with my time left! Missions are great. HARD. But great. I can't imagine not having this time to grow for myself and focus on the gospel. Myself personally, I needed this step in order to progress. There are plenty of people out there who are able to progress without the help of a mission but I know that it would have been hard for me. So PROPS to all you people out there who are able to skip this step. Point of rant: I like who I'm becoming.

6. Can i get some family history from ancestors from england? Or from other places? there is an elder curtis here and i want to see if we are related! Also, am i related to a ray curtis? He was a mission president here back in the day.

7. I am really grateful for you, Mom and Dad. You are the best parents out of all of the parents on the earth for sure. Thanks for being such great examples and for raising all of us the way you have. Dad, I hope that one day I can marry a man like you. Mom, I hope that one day I can be the Mom that you have been to me.

Love you all,

Sister Curtis

 

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!