Tuesday we had Zone Conference. It lasted most of the day, but I learned a lot. It’s nice to see lots of people and hear President and a bunch of other people talk. It was also really great to hear the departing missionaries’ testimonies. Too bad there were three sessions, so I couldn’t hear all of them. It was good though. The topic was on Charity and unity.
Good work getting your license Rachelle! I know I was blessed by not getting my license till I was 17 b/c now I don’t have to worry about it expiring on my mission! It’s been fun driving and I know I’m being extra protected on the roads. Now I just need to pray really hard for Rachelle—why do they let little kids drive anyway? :)
This week we had a temple tour for investigators, recent converts, anyone we could get to come. The idea is to bring them and get them to feel the spirit and want to enter the temple some day. It went pretty well and the elders that did our group did a good job. We went to the Spanish session and invited a ton of people, but only one guy ended up coming. It was our investigator Erasmo (air-os-mo). He’s the one that lives in Anaheim, but has friends in the ward so he comes to their house on Sundays for us to teach him and to have dinner. He’s doing very well and came to church yesterday as well. Then we taught him after at the member’s house—the Pantojas (the J makes an h sound). They are the main member missionaries of the ward—they give us so many names it’s ridiculous!
I was reading the white handbook and decided I could give you names to pray for. I talked to Pres. Watrous too so I think It’s all right. I guess I got confused reading it. The only thing it says is “don’t ask family members to participate in special fasts with you.” So I guess it never even says anything about praying. So I guess I’ll give you the list now. I’m so excited for this!
I guess the closest investigator to baptism right now is Erasmo. He’s the smartest Mexican I’ve ever met and is so nice! He’s in his 30’s and has the greatest sense of humor. Anyway, right now just pray for him to get a solid answer to his prayers! That is all that’s left to keep him from baptism. One more funny thing is that he’s an ex-Pentecostal pastor.
The next to pray for is Julia and Alvero. Pray for them to have the desire to be married and to come to church. Julia is especially doing well, but Alvero doesn’t have the same enthusiasm about everything.
We are also teaching Estevan and Maria. He’s been reading the BOM a lot but hasn’t come to church lately so pray for him to have the time and desire to come to church (her too). As will all these people, pray for them to get an answer to their prayers.
Juan and Mariela need to come to church and read the BOM so pray for that. They are a cute little family we found tracting.
Pray for us to get an appointment with Raul. He’s a really cool guy we found tracking the middle of last transfer, but have had a hard time getting an appointment with him to teach. Same with Felipe.
Pray for Edith’s health. She’s another referral we got from the Pantojas. She needs to get better so we can get an appointment to teach her. Her husband is Juan.
Pray for Rosinda and Alejandro. They are the ones I told you about that are always working, making it extremely difficult to find a time they are open to talk to us.
Also pray for the Martinez family that the parents can get Sunday’s off so they can come to church. The father got baptized, but then never really came to church since he’s always working on Sundays! The kids come and are members, but haven’t been able to lately since they’ve been sick. It makes it harder that we always have to find a ride for them.
Aurora needs answers to her prayers, as well as desire to read the BOM and come to church.
I know that’s a long list, but that’s why I put it in order from most important to, well, a little bit less important. You’ll probably have to write it down so you can remember while you’re praying. You don’t have to pray for everything and everyone every single prayer, but that’s the list so do with it what you want :) Thanks for asking for this…I also think it’s a good idea. I’ll send updates whenever I get them.
Guess that’s about it for this week. Things are going well and I’m excited for another week with my crazy Mexico City companion. Did I tell you he studied at BYU Hawaii before his mission for 8 months? That’s where he learned a lot of his English. Anyway, love you all, have a wonderful week and thanks in advance for all the Birthday love.
Love,
Elder Curtis
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Email 3/16/2009
I’m here again with Elder Fraga writing about the week. It’s definitely not the same having a new companion, but it’s still the Lord’s work and who I serve with isn’t that important. But anyway, like I said, he’s from Mexico, Mexico City. He is helping me with Spanish and I’m helping him with English. He went to a year at BYU-Hawaii before his mission so he has over a year of speaking English so he’s pretty good—except for his accent :) One time he asked me if I had a pet and I swore he said bed—Not sure how that works lol it’s a fun new adventure though. He’s very smart and I love teaching with him. Even though Elder Swenson was amazing at Spanish, Elder Fraga is perfect at Spanish, so I guess you can’t get any better than that. It’s nice to have someone who can relate to the people we teach.
This week has been really good! Elder Fraga likes to work really hard and make good use of time. We are getting everything in this area more organized and getting the area book all up to date. We’ve found some good people to teach this week so I’m excited about that. We knocked a lot of doors, visited a lot of former investigators and taught a lot of current investigators/less actives.
This week I finally figured out our area. It helps that I’m the one driving that has to figure out where everything is. I found out that the small area we are assigned to is only the area we knock doors in. We also have another large area that we can go to to teach. It’s covered by English elders, but if they find anyone Spanish, we are the ones to teach them since they are in our ward. That’s how it is for the other two elders in our ward, except now they have two areas to cover and a ton of area they teach in since the third pair got moved out. It’s all going good though and I enjoy the work.
Transfers are basically you drive to the office, pick up mail, say hello to other missionaries, put your stuff in a new car (if you’re being transferred) then drive off. Too bad we don’t have a moves meeting Ross, but I guess they kind of do testimonies and stuff at Zone Conference.
Speaking of Ross, Elder Swenson told me a funny story the other week. They were coming out of a grocery store or something and were walking in the park when all of a sudden they saw a guy with a BYU sweater. One of the Tongan missionaries that was with them said “hey, are you a member?” He said “Member of what?” “Member of the church.” “Yes, I’m catholic.” So Elder Swenson said “Where did you get that sweater?” and he said “La Rose” which, being interpreted is “La Ross” or in other words, Ross dress for less. I thought that was such a funny story! A random guy wearing a byu sweater that he got from Ross lol.
Another funny story I wanted to tell was about how cold Mexicans get (including my companion!) They are always complaining about how cold it is when it hardly ever gets below 60 lol. We went to this member’s house one day of 67 degrees. It was a little rainy, but to me it was hardly cold. Anyway, we went inside and the grandma was all dressed warm and to protect the baby from the “cold” had her completely smothered in clothing. Like two or three layers plus one of the older daughter’s sweat shirts! I felt so bad for the poor little thing lol. It made me laugh though.
Someone asked about Elder Swenson’s plans. He is probably going to work this summer except for when they go to Pennsylvania after his sister has a baby, and then he’s going to BYU in the fall. He got accepted before his mission, but automatically deferred for a mission.
Last Sunday was kind of sad. It was daylight savings so Julia and Alvero our investigators woke up late and weren’t able to come to church :( Julia was able to come Yesterday though so that was good. We also taught Erasmo yesterday who lives in Anaheim and comes to a member’s house in our ward so we can teach him. We’ve taught him the first three lessons, but right now he doesn’t want to set a baptism date. He says that would be too much of a commitment and would be too hard for him. He’s really smart though and understands and remembers everything we teach him so hopefully some day :) We had to cancel the baptism date of Julia and Alvero (march 15th). They aren’t ready yet (especially Alvero) and still need to be married, but they are making progress, at least Julia is, so hopefully one of these days.
I thought I knew what Mexican food was before my mission, but there’s a lot more to it than you would guess. They eat a lot more parts of the cow than we do and there are a lot of fruits they like that we don’t eat up here. For example, I ate Jimaca and Buche this week. A funny potato-like white fruit and a part of the cow we don’t use here :) It’s fun to have a companion from another country. It’s definitely something new to get used to, but he’s a great guy. Guess I’d better be done so hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love you,
Elder Curtis
This week has been really good! Elder Fraga likes to work really hard and make good use of time. We are getting everything in this area more organized and getting the area book all up to date. We’ve found some good people to teach this week so I’m excited about that. We knocked a lot of doors, visited a lot of former investigators and taught a lot of current investigators/less actives.
This week I finally figured out our area. It helps that I’m the one driving that has to figure out where everything is. I found out that the small area we are assigned to is only the area we knock doors in. We also have another large area that we can go to to teach. It’s covered by English elders, but if they find anyone Spanish, we are the ones to teach them since they are in our ward. That’s how it is for the other two elders in our ward, except now they have two areas to cover and a ton of area they teach in since the third pair got moved out. It’s all going good though and I enjoy the work.
Transfers are basically you drive to the office, pick up mail, say hello to other missionaries, put your stuff in a new car (if you’re being transferred) then drive off. Too bad we don’t have a moves meeting Ross, but I guess they kind of do testimonies and stuff at Zone Conference.
Speaking of Ross, Elder Swenson told me a funny story the other week. They were coming out of a grocery store or something and were walking in the park when all of a sudden they saw a guy with a BYU sweater. One of the Tongan missionaries that was with them said “hey, are you a member?” He said “Member of what?” “Member of the church.” “Yes, I’m catholic.” So Elder Swenson said “Where did you get that sweater?” and he said “La Rose” which, being interpreted is “La Ross” or in other words, Ross dress for less. I thought that was such a funny story! A random guy wearing a byu sweater that he got from Ross lol.
Another funny story I wanted to tell was about how cold Mexicans get (including my companion!) They are always complaining about how cold it is when it hardly ever gets below 60 lol. We went to this member’s house one day of 67 degrees. It was a little rainy, but to me it was hardly cold. Anyway, we went inside and the grandma was all dressed warm and to protect the baby from the “cold” had her completely smothered in clothing. Like two or three layers plus one of the older daughter’s sweat shirts! I felt so bad for the poor little thing lol. It made me laugh though.
Someone asked about Elder Swenson’s plans. He is probably going to work this summer except for when they go to Pennsylvania after his sister has a baby, and then he’s going to BYU in the fall. He got accepted before his mission, but automatically deferred for a mission.
Last Sunday was kind of sad. It was daylight savings so Julia and Alvero our investigators woke up late and weren’t able to come to church :( Julia was able to come Yesterday though so that was good. We also taught Erasmo yesterday who lives in Anaheim and comes to a member’s house in our ward so we can teach him. We’ve taught him the first three lessons, but right now he doesn’t want to set a baptism date. He says that would be too much of a commitment and would be too hard for him. He’s really smart though and understands and remembers everything we teach him so hopefully some day :) We had to cancel the baptism date of Julia and Alvero (march 15th). They aren’t ready yet (especially Alvero) and still need to be married, but they are making progress, at least Julia is, so hopefully one of these days.
I thought I knew what Mexican food was before my mission, but there’s a lot more to it than you would guess. They eat a lot more parts of the cow than we do and there are a lot of fruits they like that we don’t eat up here. For example, I ate Jimaca and Buche this week. A funny potato-like white fruit and a part of the cow we don’t use here :) It’s fun to have a companion from another country. It’s definitely something new to get used to, but he’s a great guy. Guess I’d better be done so hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love you,
Elder Curtis
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Email 3/9/2009 How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on
Elder Swenson is going home tomorrow! He sleeps at the mission home tonight and then leaves in the morning, so I won’t see him again.
I’m now with my new companion Elder Fraga. He’s from Mexico so his Spanish is perfect, but his English isn’t. That’s okay though — it’s good enough to communicate with me. He’s a pretty cool guy as far as I can tell. He’s been on a mission six months. I get to drive this transfer so I guess I’ll learn where everything is pretty quick lol.
Anyway, all in all things are going to be a lot different these next six weeks. I’m still in the same ward, so now I know more about what’s going on than my companion — which is weird for me. The elders that were living with us last transfer are both gone and they are replacing them with sisters so we may not get new roommates. We did get a new District leader though. We may even move to a new apartment, I don’t know anything for sure yet though. For now we are staying where we are. It’s really messy though. The elders that left were in a hurry I guess so the place is pretty pig-styish. We’ll work on it though.
This last week was really good. I’m really grateful I had Elder Swenson as my trainer. He’s an awesome guy. He lives in West Jordon if you ever want to meet him lol. He’ll be home this summer and then go to BYU in the fall. I even have his address… He told me a story that justifies me in saying there are lots of sirens around here. He said once he and his companion recorded it in their planner whenever they heard a siren and they ended up hearing one every single day for four months!
Thanks for the tip about the sunglasses mom. I know being obedient always brings blessings so I’ll do my best!
I did end up buying Elder Koerper’s bike so that’ll be nice to have. Even if I never use it on my mission, I’ll be glad to have a nice bike after my mission. He got it for over $500 dollars with all the accessories and everything then sold it all to me for only $220 (I talked him down from 250)! It’s in pretty good shape too. It has disk lock brakes, a speedometer/odometer, a U-lock (a really strong lock to park it with), headlights, and back lights (not just reflectors) so I think I’ll be pretty happy with it.
Thank you so much for all your letters, support, and love. I know this will be a great six weeks! Thanks for sending the family newsletters.
Love you all, Elder Curtis
I’m now with my new companion Elder Fraga. He’s from Mexico so his Spanish is perfect, but his English isn’t. That’s okay though — it’s good enough to communicate with me. He’s a pretty cool guy as far as I can tell. He’s been on a mission six months. I get to drive this transfer so I guess I’ll learn where everything is pretty quick lol.
Anyway, all in all things are going to be a lot different these next six weeks. I’m still in the same ward, so now I know more about what’s going on than my companion — which is weird for me. The elders that were living with us last transfer are both gone and they are replacing them with sisters so we may not get new roommates. We did get a new District leader though. We may even move to a new apartment, I don’t know anything for sure yet though. For now we are staying where we are. It’s really messy though. The elders that left were in a hurry I guess so the place is pretty pig-styish. We’ll work on it though.
This last week was really good. I’m really grateful I had Elder Swenson as my trainer. He’s an awesome guy. He lives in West Jordon if you ever want to meet him lol. He’ll be home this summer and then go to BYU in the fall. I even have his address… He told me a story that justifies me in saying there are lots of sirens around here. He said once he and his companion recorded it in their planner whenever they heard a siren and they ended up hearing one every single day for four months!
Thanks for the tip about the sunglasses mom. I know being obedient always brings blessings so I’ll do my best!
I did end up buying Elder Koerper’s bike so that’ll be nice to have. Even if I never use it on my mission, I’ll be glad to have a nice bike after my mission. He got it for over $500 dollars with all the accessories and everything then sold it all to me for only $220 (I talked him down from 250)! It’s in pretty good shape too. It has disk lock brakes, a speedometer/odometer, a U-lock (a really strong lock to park it with), headlights, and back lights (not just reflectors) so I think I’ll be pretty happy with it.
Thank you so much for all your letters, support, and love. I know this will be a great six weeks! Thanks for sending the family newsletters.
Love you all, Elder Curtis
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Email 3/2/2009 God's Forecast: Eternal Reign
Hey family! Only one more week left with Elder Swenson! Who knows what will happen this transfers. Either I get moved to a new area, or I get a new companion here. If I move there will be two brand new missionaries in this area which is called white washing. They usually avoid doing that because they like to keep at least one missionary who’s been there for a while and knows the people and the area. The reverse is also true – the investigators and ward members know that person too. I’m not sure if I’ll stay though since I’m so new. If I did stay that would put a lot of responsibility on me so we’ll see what happens. I guess I wouldn’t mind either way.
The weather has been better this week. In fact on Saturday and Sunday it got up to 90! :) Things are going good here. We had a great lesson with Julia this week and even took a member. Alvero was busy sleeping though lol. I don’t blame him – he has to get up at like 3 in the morning for work. It’s crazy how much people have to work to keep a house. Rent is so darn expensive that the Mexicans have to work almost nonstop to keep from being homeless. Especially if they have kids. There’s this one family who is related to some members in the ward. They have like four kids and both parents have to work like crazy. They work every single day (both of them) and one of them is always at work so there isn’t any time at all during the week we can teach them cause they work from early morning to almost midnight every single day! We want to teach the whole family, but that is practically impossible! They work at like fast food places. I just don’t know how you could live like that. If I was them I would move somewhere less expensive, but they like it here because it’s like a little Spanish community and they probably don’t know much English.
This week we changed the whole apartment around. I guess our roommates wanted a change. We put the two bunk beds in the main front room, moved all the couches in one room and the desks in the other room. It’s pretty crazy. Elder Swenson and Fuchs were so determined to get all the couches in the other room that we borrowed a ladder from a member and stuffed the largest couch through the second story window since it wouldn’t fit through the door! It was awesome. They are so funny. We even got the office to give us a new vacuum. The other one was really old, but the new one is really nice! I don’t know if you’ve heard of bagless vacuums, but they just have a compartment in the front that the dirt collects in and then you just take it out and dump the stuff in the garbage and wash it out or whatever. It’s really nifty and the vacuum is pretty powerful too. We vacuumed the apartment and the whole compartment filled up with dirt and fluffy junk. It was so gross! I didn’t know the carpet could even hold that much junk.
Anyway, we just keep doing the work – visiting less actives, having dinner with members, knocking doors and all that good stuff. I think Elder Swenson is getting pretty excited to go home though because we don’t do as much as we used to, but I can understand that. There was another baptism in the ward this week on Sunday that Elders Medrano and Keeler were teaching. It was pretty nice and I played the piano again.
I got like six letters the other day so that was really nice. Glad those finally got here (except for Nicole’s letter). I laughed a lot at Ross’s letter. Yes it is true there are lots of illegals here! He said it’s about 37 million. I wouldn’t be surprised lol. It is super expensive though – that’s for sure. Thanks for all your letters Anna and Mom and everyone else that writes!
Elder Swenson if from Salt Lake – West Jordan I think. Guess I never told you that. His family is so similar to mine it’s scary! He is 3rd of five, his older two are married and both pregnant. One of them even lives in Pennsylvania! I think he goes to Penn University. There aren’t any girls though – just five boys.
Wish I could have heard you play the flute in church Mom. Sounds like it was a really cool song to be switching flutes and everything. Good job Nicole for being the helper girl! Sounds like you are getting lots of new electronics mom. Too bad I’m not there to teach you how to use them haha. What kind of phone are you getting? That’s cool you got a fancy toothbrush too. Remember you don’t have to use the brushing motion anymore – just hold it lightly on your teeth and move from tooth to tooth.
Anyway, that’s about it I guess. My comp’s anxious to go, so hope everyone has a good week!
Love, Elder Curtis
The weather has been better this week. In fact on Saturday and Sunday it got up to 90! :) Things are going good here. We had a great lesson with Julia this week and even took a member. Alvero was busy sleeping though lol. I don’t blame him – he has to get up at like 3 in the morning for work. It’s crazy how much people have to work to keep a house. Rent is so darn expensive that the Mexicans have to work almost nonstop to keep from being homeless. Especially if they have kids. There’s this one family who is related to some members in the ward. They have like four kids and both parents have to work like crazy. They work every single day (both of them) and one of them is always at work so there isn’t any time at all during the week we can teach them cause they work from early morning to almost midnight every single day! We want to teach the whole family, but that is practically impossible! They work at like fast food places. I just don’t know how you could live like that. If I was them I would move somewhere less expensive, but they like it here because it’s like a little Spanish community and they probably don’t know much English.
This week we changed the whole apartment around. I guess our roommates wanted a change. We put the two bunk beds in the main front room, moved all the couches in one room and the desks in the other room. It’s pretty crazy. Elder Swenson and Fuchs were so determined to get all the couches in the other room that we borrowed a ladder from a member and stuffed the largest couch through the second story window since it wouldn’t fit through the door! It was awesome. They are so funny. We even got the office to give us a new vacuum. The other one was really old, but the new one is really nice! I don’t know if you’ve heard of bagless vacuums, but they just have a compartment in the front that the dirt collects in and then you just take it out and dump the stuff in the garbage and wash it out or whatever. It’s really nifty and the vacuum is pretty powerful too. We vacuumed the apartment and the whole compartment filled up with dirt and fluffy junk. It was so gross! I didn’t know the carpet could even hold that much junk.
Anyway, we just keep doing the work – visiting less actives, having dinner with members, knocking doors and all that good stuff. I think Elder Swenson is getting pretty excited to go home though because we don’t do as much as we used to, but I can understand that. There was another baptism in the ward this week on Sunday that Elders Medrano and Keeler were teaching. It was pretty nice and I played the piano again.
I got like six letters the other day so that was really nice. Glad those finally got here (except for Nicole’s letter). I laughed a lot at Ross’s letter. Yes it is true there are lots of illegals here! He said it’s about 37 million. I wouldn’t be surprised lol. It is super expensive though – that’s for sure. Thanks for all your letters Anna and Mom and everyone else that writes!
Elder Swenson if from Salt Lake – West Jordan I think. Guess I never told you that. His family is so similar to mine it’s scary! He is 3rd of five, his older two are married and both pregnant. One of them even lives in Pennsylvania! I think he goes to Penn University. There aren’t any girls though – just five boys.
Wish I could have heard you play the flute in church Mom. Sounds like it was a really cool song to be switching flutes and everything. Good job Nicole for being the helper girl! Sounds like you are getting lots of new electronics mom. Too bad I’m not there to teach you how to use them haha. What kind of phone are you getting? That’s cool you got a fancy toothbrush too. Remember you don’t have to use the brushing motion anymore – just hold it lightly on your teeth and move from tooth to tooth.
Anyway, that’s about it I guess. My comp’s anxious to go, so hope everyone has a good week!
Love, Elder Curtis
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Snail Mail 2/23/2009
Hello once again! I guess the good news for this week is that we have two investigators with baptismal dates – Julia and her husband Alvero. The bad news is that we found out they aren’t married, so we need to teach them about that. Things are going well though. It was so funny – Alvero kept asking if the baptism water would be warm or cold; he seemed really concerned about it. Lol
I gave one of our RCs (recent converts) a blessing this week. E. S. did the anointing, then I did the blessing in Spanish. I was nervous, but I felt that extra power helping me through it.
On Thursday nights we usually go visit some RCs who E.S. baptized. They are an older couple, and the husband, OJ, comes to our area to bowl in a bowling league. I might have mentioned them before – they took us out to dinner once. Anyway they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and very firm in their new faith. They talk a lot, are so funny, and are so loving. We usually talk to Marilyn while OJ bowls. One night at the bowling alley we met this guy (a friend of OJ’s) and he was like “My wife’s Mormon” so he invited us to his small chicken fast food place and fed us a huge free lunch one day.
Yesterday was ward conference, so the choir finally sang the two songs we’ve been practicing forever. Julia (hoolia en Espanol) even came to church finally. We went to a member’s house for dinner (the one we go to every Sunday) and their friend Erasmo was there again so we taught him the second lesson on the POS (plan of salvation). It was a good lesson.
I thought it was so sweet and was touched that Reesah remembered me. Thanks for sharing that Anna.
I told the president about my sensitive eyes and that my brother got headaches on his mission, but apparently he doesn’t care. I told him I’d take off my sunglasses while talking to people, but he still doesn’t want me (or anyone else) to wear them except for in the car.
It was so funny the other day – we were tracting on the edge of the mission, and while we were driving we saw elders from the Longbeach mission drive right past us going the other way b/c the street is the divider. They looked so confused – it was hilarious. Did I already tell this story?
Anyway when we tract it seems like almost everyone already goes to a church, but it’s not just one – there are all kinds of churches all over. So E.S. always likes to ask which one they go to. One of the common ones is the huge Catholic church in our area called “Our Lady Guadalupe” because they believe the Virgin Mary appeared to someone a long time ago down in South America in a city called Guadalupe. The building has a huge painting of the virgin on the front.
I’ve seen/heard more sirens and emergency vehicles here than my whole life it seems. (Sorry if that was random – just an interesting fact.)
I’ve shown the little family picture I have to some members and gotten lots of good comments but also some funny ones. One Senora said me and Ross look identical. She thought we were twins. She said Rachelle looked older than Stormie and that Jer looks Latino. Another said Mom and Dad look way too young to be the parents. She said all the males have Asian squinty eyes, which I guess is true when we smile, ha ha.
That’s crazy about the new computer – you should have done it long before I left, lol.
Sorry I didn’t get to a computer today – I’ll repent and be sure to email next week. Guess that’s about all I have to say. Love you all so much – can’t wait to hear from you.
For Mom:
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line; the decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I am finished and done with: low-loving, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need the pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide is reliable, and my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I will not give up, shut up, or let up until I have paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when he shall return for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me – my banner will be clear.
I gave one of our RCs (recent converts) a blessing this week. E. S. did the anointing, then I did the blessing in Spanish. I was nervous, but I felt that extra power helping me through it.
On Thursday nights we usually go visit some RCs who E.S. baptized. They are an older couple, and the husband, OJ, comes to our area to bowl in a bowling league. I might have mentioned them before – they took us out to dinner once. Anyway they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and very firm in their new faith. They talk a lot, are so funny, and are so loving. We usually talk to Marilyn while OJ bowls. One night at the bowling alley we met this guy (a friend of OJ’s) and he was like “My wife’s Mormon” so he invited us to his small chicken fast food place and fed us a huge free lunch one day.
Yesterday was ward conference, so the choir finally sang the two songs we’ve been practicing forever. Julia (hoolia en Espanol) even came to church finally. We went to a member’s house for dinner (the one we go to every Sunday) and their friend Erasmo was there again so we taught him the second lesson on the POS (plan of salvation). It was a good lesson.
I thought it was so sweet and was touched that Reesah remembered me. Thanks for sharing that Anna.
I told the president about my sensitive eyes and that my brother got headaches on his mission, but apparently he doesn’t care. I told him I’d take off my sunglasses while talking to people, but he still doesn’t want me (or anyone else) to wear them except for in the car.
It was so funny the other day – we were tracting on the edge of the mission, and while we were driving we saw elders from the Longbeach mission drive right past us going the other way b/c the street is the divider. They looked so confused – it was hilarious. Did I already tell this story?
Anyway when we tract it seems like almost everyone already goes to a church, but it’s not just one – there are all kinds of churches all over. So E.S. always likes to ask which one they go to. One of the common ones is the huge Catholic church in our area called “Our Lady Guadalupe” because they believe the Virgin Mary appeared to someone a long time ago down in South America in a city called Guadalupe. The building has a huge painting of the virgin on the front.
I’ve seen/heard more sirens and emergency vehicles here than my whole life it seems. (Sorry if that was random – just an interesting fact.)
I’ve shown the little family picture I have to some members and gotten lots of good comments but also some funny ones. One Senora said me and Ross look identical. She thought we were twins. She said Rachelle looked older than Stormie and that Jer looks Latino. Another said Mom and Dad look way too young to be the parents. She said all the males have Asian squinty eyes, which I guess is true when we smile, ha ha.
That’s crazy about the new computer – you should have done it long before I left, lol.
Sorry I didn’t get to a computer today – I’ll repent and be sure to email next week. Guess that’s about all I have to say. Love you all so much – can’t wait to hear from you.
For Mom:
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line; the decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I am finished and done with: low-loving, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need the pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide is reliable, and my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I will not give up, shut up, or let up until I have paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when he shall return for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me – my banner will be clear.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Email 2/17/2009
Hey everyone, how are all of you? I wasn’t able to write yesterday because the library was closed since it was Presidents day. Things are going well though. It wasn’t as rainy last week, except for Friday it poured cats and dogs. It’s kind of funny because the city isn’t really made for rain so the roads are covered in water and huge streams pour down the sides of the road. Huge puddles form and we even went to a parking lot with half the stalls under a lake so we had to park a little further away.
The last two p-days have been really fun because we’ve gone to the gym and played sports, so it’s been great exercise. Yesterday we played indoor soccer. It was great—lots of people came and not just missionaries. We went “squad knocking” this week with our roommates elders Koerper and Fuchs (pronounced Fooks). We knocked the same area and even switched companionships a few times.
Wednesday we got to go to the temple! It was an awesome experience. It’s the Newport Beach temple and it’s in our mission. It’s really beautiful and is made of pink stone. It’s one of the many small temples in the world. The story of how it came to be is pretty cool too. We sent the white stone we were going to use to China to get it finished or something and found out the city didn’t want them to use white stone. There happened to be a mistake made there that someone got pink stone on accident so we just traded with them. Anyway, it was a good session and then we went to a little meeting in the stake center nearby and President talked to us about goals and lots of other stuff. He had us write down goals for our mission and then said he’d give them back at the end of the mission. It was a good day, even though we had to wake up at 5:15 to get there on time lol. Afterwards, we went to lunch and then drove by the beach real quick. It was sunny and oh so beautiful. The ocean as usual looked so amazing.
Thursday we went knocking again for a while and then when we got back to the car we realized it was pretty flat. Fortunately there was a car place nearby that’s run by a Mormon family so we went there and filled up our spare so we could put it on. We had to wait till the next day to fix it because the SLC office closes at five, which is four our time and we don’t want to pay for anything ourselves if we don’t have to. Turns out we had a nail stuck in it. So I had a nice refresher course on how to change a tire.
Saturday and Sunday were great days for teaching. Our investigator Julia set a baptismal date for March 15th. She isn’t sure whether she will go through with it at the moment but with prayer I’m sure she will get an answer. Sunday was stake conference so all the Spanish wards in the mission pretty much met together and a member of the 70 came and spoke—but he had to have a translator. It was Bro. Nuenswander who also spoke while I was at the MTC. We had a “dinner” appointment at like 2 (Spanish people eat their big meal of the day in the early afternoon) at a member’s home. They also invited some non-member friends who we got to teach so we got 3 great new investigators. I told the Joseph Smith story (in Spanish) for the first time. I really hope these people get answers to their prayers—I have a good feeling about them.
This morning a member took us out to eat at a Thai place for lunch and I was grateful I don’t have to eat that food for two years. I’m too picky of an eater lol. Not that it was bad—just different.
I know I am truly blessed to be here and be a part of this great work. I’m loving it and will be sad when my companion goes home in a couple weeks, but then I’ll get another great companion I’m sure to help me grow and learn even more. I know I’m being blessed to learn Spanish at a quicker rate than I could learn it myself and that I am truly being watched over. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Love, Elder Curtis
The last two p-days have been really fun because we’ve gone to the gym and played sports, so it’s been great exercise. Yesterday we played indoor soccer. It was great—lots of people came and not just missionaries. We went “squad knocking” this week with our roommates elders Koerper and Fuchs (pronounced Fooks). We knocked the same area and even switched companionships a few times.
Wednesday we got to go to the temple! It was an awesome experience. It’s the Newport Beach temple and it’s in our mission. It’s really beautiful and is made of pink stone. It’s one of the many small temples in the world. The story of how it came to be is pretty cool too. We sent the white stone we were going to use to China to get it finished or something and found out the city didn’t want them to use white stone. There happened to be a mistake made there that someone got pink stone on accident so we just traded with them. Anyway, it was a good session and then we went to a little meeting in the stake center nearby and President talked to us about goals and lots of other stuff. He had us write down goals for our mission and then said he’d give them back at the end of the mission. It was a good day, even though we had to wake up at 5:15 to get there on time lol. Afterwards, we went to lunch and then drove by the beach real quick. It was sunny and oh so beautiful. The ocean as usual looked so amazing.
Thursday we went knocking again for a while and then when we got back to the car we realized it was pretty flat. Fortunately there was a car place nearby that’s run by a Mormon family so we went there and filled up our spare so we could put it on. We had to wait till the next day to fix it because the SLC office closes at five, which is four our time and we don’t want to pay for anything ourselves if we don’t have to. Turns out we had a nail stuck in it. So I had a nice refresher course on how to change a tire.
Saturday and Sunday were great days for teaching. Our investigator Julia set a baptismal date for March 15th. She isn’t sure whether she will go through with it at the moment but with prayer I’m sure she will get an answer. Sunday was stake conference so all the Spanish wards in the mission pretty much met together and a member of the 70 came and spoke—but he had to have a translator. It was Bro. Nuenswander who also spoke while I was at the MTC. We had a “dinner” appointment at like 2 (Spanish people eat their big meal of the day in the early afternoon) at a member’s home. They also invited some non-member friends who we got to teach so we got 3 great new investigators. I told the Joseph Smith story (in Spanish) for the first time. I really hope these people get answers to their prayers—I have a good feeling about them.
This morning a member took us out to eat at a Thai place for lunch and I was grateful I don’t have to eat that food for two years. I’m too picky of an eater lol. Not that it was bad—just different.
I know I am truly blessed to be here and be a part of this great work. I’m loving it and will be sad when my companion goes home in a couple weeks, but then I’ll get another great companion I’m sure to help me grow and learn even more. I know I’m being blessed to learn Spanish at a quicker rate than I could learn it myself and that I am truly being watched over. Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Love, Elder Curtis
Email 2/9/2009
Hello from sunny California! I mean…rainy California. It’s rained like the past 5 days, which is like how much Elder Swenson has seen his whole mission, but I can deal with it.
Mexicans are funny. They have a super hard time pronouncing English words. Like most words don’t start with “S” so when they say an English word it comes out with an e sound in front. Especial, estart, esmart, etc. They had a super hard time with the “w” in elder Swenson’s name so he finally ordered a name-tag written like this: Suensón and they’re like “Oh, Swenson!” It’s funny. They have a really hard time with Curtis too. “Coortees.” I think they might be like Thai people because when they eat fruit, they like to have every kind of flavor on it. The fruit is sweet, then they put lemon juice on it (sour) then they put salt on it, and then chile powder (spicy and bitter). It’s pretty crazy.
There are tons of little shops on all sides of every main road and you wouldn’t believe how many donut shops there are. Like seriously, every other corner has one. Same thing with Liquor shops and Animal hospitals. I mean I’ve never even seen very many animal hospitals in my life and here they are all over the place—along with donuts at every turn lol. Motorcycles don’t seem to have any rules to follow because they always just do whatever they want—weaving in and out of cars to their pleasure. At stop lights they just go in between everyone right up to the front—it’s ridiculous. Instead of speed bumps there are dips all over. I’m mostly sure they are intentional because they are all over the place.
I finally cleaned the bathroom, and we bought a new shower curtain so I don’t have to breathe mold every day. It’s so much nicer. Tuesday I had my first Zone conference. It lasted most of the day and was pretty inspirational. We got new phones and had a clean car competition. We cleaned our car last Monday, but everyone else did too so we didn’t win anything. The meetings were good though and I played the piano for a musical number accompanying about 8 elders and sisters singing a Tongan hymn so that was cool.
The work is going pretty well though. We don’t have anyone that is super interested, but we still teach plenty. We also had lots of service activities to do this week. On Wednesday we helped someone move so we were hauling lots of stuff. That day we also taught a lady and her husband. She is Julia, but I’m not sure of his name. They told us once they know the Gospel’s true they’ll be baptized so that was cool. They’ve been meeting missionaries off and on for like a year though. On Wednesday and Thursday we got to do some more “service.” I put it in parenthesis because Elder Swenson said it was the best service he’s done his whole mission. We went to this house that this guy bought and wants to redo a lot of it so we went to tear down the old stuff. Demolition is actually pretty fun. Just grab a hammer and start whacking down cupboards and stuff. It was pretty crazy. We knocked down door frames, cupboards, walls, and we even took out a whole kitchen island thing that had like a stove and drawers etc. in it. We tore up carpet, tile, and all kinds of stuff.
We’re also teaching a less active named Hno. Castro who wants to be good—he just has so much in life distracting him from going to church etc.
We got to eat out two or three times this week because members just took us out instead of cooking for us. We went to a burger/chicken place one night and Chile’s another. We also ate at member’s houses two times this week. As usual they made fun of my poor Spanish comprehension. One lady even told a story to make me feel better about a time when she didn’t know what people were saying (in English) but I didn’t even understand the story—it was pretty pathetic, elder Swenson had to translate it for me. I feel like a little kid who doesn’t understand jokes so I just sit there and smile wondering what they’re laughing about, when half the time they’re laughing at me and I don’t know it. Some days are better though and I feel like I’m improving and understanding a lot. Some people are just easier to understand I guess.
Elder Stewart, who was in the threesome living with us, got transferred out to be with an incoming Elder (from another mission) so now out apartment is back down to four. It doesn’t make a huge difference though. They still stay up late, burn whatever they can find WHEREVER they are (and Rachelle thought I was a pyro, HA), play with their little air-soft guns (the word soft should not be applied. Those little plastic bb’s come out at a couple hundred miles per hour and sting if you get hit), and look like they are dead in the morning. My comp is good though—he always gets up on time. They’re good people though so I try not to judge them—they always make things interesting and fun.
Yesterday morning we stopped by a bunch of people’s houses, but they either weren’t there or had an excuse not to come to church. It was sad. I had to play the opening hymn in sacrament meeting again lol. Some missionaries in our district had a Baptism yesterday so we went to that (I played the piano).
We played indoor Frisbee at the church today with a bunch of other elders so that was a blast. The ASL elders were even there and one of them is actually deaf so that was fun.
Anyway, love you all. Hope your week goes well.
Elder Curtis
Mexicans are funny. They have a super hard time pronouncing English words. Like most words don’t start with “S” so when they say an English word it comes out with an e sound in front. Especial, estart, esmart, etc. They had a super hard time with the “w” in elder Swenson’s name so he finally ordered a name-tag written like this: Suensón and they’re like “Oh, Swenson!” It’s funny. They have a really hard time with Curtis too. “Coortees.” I think they might be like Thai people because when they eat fruit, they like to have every kind of flavor on it. The fruit is sweet, then they put lemon juice on it (sour) then they put salt on it, and then chile powder (spicy and bitter). It’s pretty crazy.
There are tons of little shops on all sides of every main road and you wouldn’t believe how many donut shops there are. Like seriously, every other corner has one. Same thing with Liquor shops and Animal hospitals. I mean I’ve never even seen very many animal hospitals in my life and here they are all over the place—along with donuts at every turn lol. Motorcycles don’t seem to have any rules to follow because they always just do whatever they want—weaving in and out of cars to their pleasure. At stop lights they just go in between everyone right up to the front—it’s ridiculous. Instead of speed bumps there are dips all over. I’m mostly sure they are intentional because they are all over the place.
I finally cleaned the bathroom, and we bought a new shower curtain so I don’t have to breathe mold every day. It’s so much nicer. Tuesday I had my first Zone conference. It lasted most of the day and was pretty inspirational. We got new phones and had a clean car competition. We cleaned our car last Monday, but everyone else did too so we didn’t win anything. The meetings were good though and I played the piano for a musical number accompanying about 8 elders and sisters singing a Tongan hymn so that was cool.
The work is going pretty well though. We don’t have anyone that is super interested, but we still teach plenty. We also had lots of service activities to do this week. On Wednesday we helped someone move so we were hauling lots of stuff. That day we also taught a lady and her husband. She is Julia, but I’m not sure of his name. They told us once they know the Gospel’s true they’ll be baptized so that was cool. They’ve been meeting missionaries off and on for like a year though. On Wednesday and Thursday we got to do some more “service.” I put it in parenthesis because Elder Swenson said it was the best service he’s done his whole mission. We went to this house that this guy bought and wants to redo a lot of it so we went to tear down the old stuff. Demolition is actually pretty fun. Just grab a hammer and start whacking down cupboards and stuff. It was pretty crazy. We knocked down door frames, cupboards, walls, and we even took out a whole kitchen island thing that had like a stove and drawers etc. in it. We tore up carpet, tile, and all kinds of stuff.
We’re also teaching a less active named Hno. Castro who wants to be good—he just has so much in life distracting him from going to church etc.
We got to eat out two or three times this week because members just took us out instead of cooking for us. We went to a burger/chicken place one night and Chile’s another. We also ate at member’s houses two times this week. As usual they made fun of my poor Spanish comprehension. One lady even told a story to make me feel better about a time when she didn’t know what people were saying (in English) but I didn’t even understand the story—it was pretty pathetic, elder Swenson had to translate it for me. I feel like a little kid who doesn’t understand jokes so I just sit there and smile wondering what they’re laughing about, when half the time they’re laughing at me and I don’t know it. Some days are better though and I feel like I’m improving and understanding a lot. Some people are just easier to understand I guess.
Elder Stewart, who was in the threesome living with us, got transferred out to be with an incoming Elder (from another mission) so now out apartment is back down to four. It doesn’t make a huge difference though. They still stay up late, burn whatever they can find WHEREVER they are (and Rachelle thought I was a pyro, HA), play with their little air-soft guns (the word soft should not be applied. Those little plastic bb’s come out at a couple hundred miles per hour and sting if you get hit), and look like they are dead in the morning. My comp is good though—he always gets up on time. They’re good people though so I try not to judge them—they always make things interesting and fun.
Yesterday morning we stopped by a bunch of people’s houses, but they either weren’t there or had an excuse not to come to church. It was sad. I had to play the opening hymn in sacrament meeting again lol. Some missionaries in our district had a Baptism yesterday so we went to that (I played the piano).
We played indoor Frisbee at the church today with a bunch of other elders so that was a blast. The ASL elders were even there and one of them is actually deaf so that was fun.
Anyway, love you all. Hope your week goes well.
Elder Curtis
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