Hey Everyone,
This week has been interesting. We’ve had to get used to only being in a twosome. I guess the new missionaries won’t get here till June 16th. So guess what? I got to baptize Juaquin yesterday! It was a neat experience. I was grateful for that opportunity. So we had a lot of lessons with him this week to get him ready. He’s a great kid and is really smart.
Michelle finally decided to make some changes in her life. She really wants to change. So she told Rigo that he needs to leave until he’s divorced. We were happy she finally did something to get this divorce moving along. Rigo did leave but didn’t take anything with him so of course he had to come back. When he finally did come back he had drugs in his pocket and Michelle freaked out. She started yelling and throwing stuff so the neighbors called the cops and since Rigo is on probation they came right over and threw him in jail. So then Michelle and her mom Sonia (a member) had to go bail him out by paying $1600. Imagine how hard that would be for a poor Mexican family. And Sonia was upset because that didn’t have to happen. Anyway, I was excited they were separated, but now Rigo and Michelle are back together. I just hope they can get the divorce done soon so they can get married.
We got to do a little service on Saturday and help a member Hno. Urrelos clean his pool filter. Then he fed us pizza so that made me happy. We also got the mechanics to bring a carpet shampooer so we could clean our carpets. It helped a lot, but some of those stains are impossible.
Erasmo has started to notice that whenever he does something to get closer to God, something bad happens to him in his life. Last transfer he got in an accident and totaled his car and of course he didn’t have money to get a new one. He also said he is having family issues at home. Then last of all he lost his job. He blames it on the fact that he bought a bible lol. Who knows if that’s true, but he is really having lots of difficulties and so I really hope this helps him instead of pushing him away from the church. He is really looking hard for an answer of what he should do. Pray hard for him. I really hope he can pull through and make the right choice. His “home” is a garage and half the time he sleeps at the Pantoja’s house. He’s actually got a pretty good attitude so that’s good. I just hope he can make it. He’s been to lots of baptisms and goes to church faithfully. Most of the members probably think he is baptized lol. He’s really nice and makes lots of friends. I think he’d fit in really well if he decided to make the step of faith which is baptism.
Anyway, that’s about it for this week. Today has been good. We’ve cleaned our apartment, the car inside and out, played soccer with the district, and gone shopping. Now we are going to eat dinner with the Martinez family here in the mall so I better go. Have a good week everyone! Wish I could be there for the party at home! :)
Love,
Elder Curtis
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
it was cute ...
Dear family,
I didn’t get transferred this week. The funny thing though is that I’m still in a threesome, or at least I will be. Elder Sharp is being moved to an English ward (he almost went home when they told him that—no joke) and we are getting a new elder here in La Habra. Elder Fraga will be staying here as well. Anyway, I guess they have a flu in the MTC so new elders are being held back for two weeks. That means one of the English elders in Fullerton that is going to be training doesn’t have a companion for two weeks so the elder replacing elder Sharp is going with him (Elder Zelnick) and then will come and be with us when the new elders get here. So not much has changed for me.
This past week has been pretty good. On Saturday our investigator Michelle held a party for her son and her brother who had birthdays this month so we went and had food and talked to our investigators etc. I even got to help with the piñata by moving it up and down while the kids tried to hit it. The piñata was Mario—it was cute. We had four investigators at church so that was a good thing. Juaquin finally came so we are going to baptize him this Sunday. Michelle decided she wants to start coming to church so we were really happy when she walked in.
Our ward mission leader moved! So now I’m the only one in the ward that can play the piano…which means I sight read lots of hymns on Sunday for sacrament as well as elder Keeler/Gillespie’s baptism. It was pretty intense, but I did all right.
Hopefully someone gets called as the new ward mission leader soon. I thought that’s pretty cool that Ross gets to do that job [ward mission leader]. I have no idea how things work over there, but here the mission leader does a lot to help us. We meet with him every week and talk about our investigators and their needs and then he talks to the ward leaders about it. That’s going to stop this transfer though. I guess they’re trying to cut back on how many meetings we have. He also helps arrange the baptisms by printing out the programs, directing the meeting, etc. It’s really nice to have someone like that in the ward helping us out that knows everything we are working with and is a member of the ward. One thing that he was supposed to do that he didn’t was to assign people to feed us every week so we can eat with less actives, recent converts, investigators etc. and so we don’t eat with the same people every week, but that’s okay. They just pass a calendar around every week and people sign up.
We started teaching some new investigators this week so hopefully things work out with them. I’m hoping we have lots of baptisms this transfer of people we’ve been working with that are getting close. I’d really like to see Julia get baptized before I get moved. Hopefully our baptism works out this weekend and we’ll already have met the mission goal for this year of one baptism per companionship per transfer. The mission as a whole finally met that goal this last transfer with 67 baptisms. I think there are less than 60 companionships. Anyway, the work is moving forward and I know great things are in the future. Keep praying for us and the missionaries around you. This is a great work and it can not be stopped. Love you all, have a great week.
Elder Curtis
I didn’t get transferred this week. The funny thing though is that I’m still in a threesome, or at least I will be. Elder Sharp is being moved to an English ward (he almost went home when they told him that—no joke) and we are getting a new elder here in La Habra. Elder Fraga will be staying here as well. Anyway, I guess they have a flu in the MTC so new elders are being held back for two weeks. That means one of the English elders in Fullerton that is going to be training doesn’t have a companion for two weeks so the elder replacing elder Sharp is going with him (Elder Zelnick) and then will come and be with us when the new elders get here. So not much has changed for me.
This past week has been pretty good. On Saturday our investigator Michelle held a party for her son and her brother who had birthdays this month so we went and had food and talked to our investigators etc. I even got to help with the piñata by moving it up and down while the kids tried to hit it. The piñata was Mario—it was cute. We had four investigators at church so that was a good thing. Juaquin finally came so we are going to baptize him this Sunday. Michelle decided she wants to start coming to church so we were really happy when she walked in.
Our ward mission leader moved! So now I’m the only one in the ward that can play the piano…which means I sight read lots of hymns on Sunday for sacrament as well as elder Keeler/Gillespie’s baptism. It was pretty intense, but I did all right.
Hopefully someone gets called as the new ward mission leader soon. I thought that’s pretty cool that Ross gets to do that job [ward mission leader]. I have no idea how things work over there, but here the mission leader does a lot to help us. We meet with him every week and talk about our investigators and their needs and then he talks to the ward leaders about it. That’s going to stop this transfer though. I guess they’re trying to cut back on how many meetings we have. He also helps arrange the baptisms by printing out the programs, directing the meeting, etc. It’s really nice to have someone like that in the ward helping us out that knows everything we are working with and is a member of the ward. One thing that he was supposed to do that he didn’t was to assign people to feed us every week so we can eat with less actives, recent converts, investigators etc. and so we don’t eat with the same people every week, but that’s okay. They just pass a calendar around every week and people sign up.
We started teaching some new investigators this week so hopefully things work out with them. I’m hoping we have lots of baptisms this transfer of people we’ve been working with that are getting close. I’d really like to see Julia get baptized before I get moved. Hopefully our baptism works out this weekend and we’ll already have met the mission goal for this year of one baptism per companionship per transfer. The mission as a whole finally met that goal this last transfer with 67 baptisms. I think there are less than 60 companionships. Anyway, the work is moving forward and I know great things are in the future. Keep praying for us and the missionaries around you. This is a great work and it can not be stopped. Love you all, have a great week.
Elder Curtis
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Guess when you work hard time goes fast.
Hola familia, como estan?
On Tuesday we had a mission conference. The son of Elder Packer who is in the 70 came and talked to us. It was really nice – he was a great speaker and I got some good notes :)
We have two investigators with a baptism date now. They are both sons of less active members. They are really smart though and it’s fun to teach them. We had their dates for the 31st, but they didn’t come to church so we’ll have to change it. I’m excited for them though. One is 12 and the other 10. One is named Juaquin (wakeen) and the other Edwardo.
This transfer went by so fast. I can’t believe that this is the last week already. Transfers are on the first so remember to send letters to the office if you don’t send them today or tomorrow. Seems like I was just saying that. Guess when you work hard time goes fast.
Julia is doing really well. She always comes to church now and is ready to change her life style. We had a great member lesson with her and Damian – who is a somewhat recent convert of 26 years. Erasmo still comes to church and enjoys everything, but isn’t ready yet I guess. Kind of frustrating. We think it must be a chastity problem. The Rico family we visit in La Habra is doing well, but hasn’t been to church since the confirmation of their nieces. The mom, Julia, says she feels it’s just “not her time” to go back. We think that’s ridiculous and have had long talks with her, but I don’t see her coming back soon.
We had four investigators at church so that was really good for us. Hermana Urrelos and one of our other investigators Juan came along with Erasmo and Julia. Nothing else that’s really new I guess. We did visit an older lady that’s English, but she’s in a care center right now. She was really discouraged because she wants to leave and plan her daughter’s wedding. She’s used to doing a lot, but now is in a care center and is restricted as to what she can do. We helped cheer her up though.
In the process Elder Sharp felt better too. He’s been kind of down and unmotivated lately. He says he doesn’t really want to be a missionary any more. He’s upset at how intense the rules are here and misses his girl friend. Also, he feels like no one want to help him with his health because they don’t let him go to the gym etc. etc. I hope he’s not like this the rest of his mission. I’m not sure how to cheer him up. He’s okay most days, just has rebellious fits every now and then. We’ll see what happens next transfer. Most likely we won’t be in a threesome anymore.
Today there was a huge stake activity that we went to at this really big state park. It was really fun with lots of food and games. That’s why I didn’t write earlier. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. I guess I’ll find out what I’ll be doing the next six weeks on Saturday. That’ll be intense. I’ve been here long enough that I could be moved, but who knows. That’s about all I can think of to say right now so I’ll write next week. Love you all,
Elder Curtis
On Tuesday we had a mission conference. The son of Elder Packer who is in the 70 came and talked to us. It was really nice – he was a great speaker and I got some good notes :)
We have two investigators with a baptism date now. They are both sons of less active members. They are really smart though and it’s fun to teach them. We had their dates for the 31st, but they didn’t come to church so we’ll have to change it. I’m excited for them though. One is 12 and the other 10. One is named Juaquin (wakeen) and the other Edwardo.
This transfer went by so fast. I can’t believe that this is the last week already. Transfers are on the first so remember to send letters to the office if you don’t send them today or tomorrow. Seems like I was just saying that. Guess when you work hard time goes fast.
Julia is doing really well. She always comes to church now and is ready to change her life style. We had a great member lesson with her and Damian – who is a somewhat recent convert of 26 years. Erasmo still comes to church and enjoys everything, but isn’t ready yet I guess. Kind of frustrating. We think it must be a chastity problem. The Rico family we visit in La Habra is doing well, but hasn’t been to church since the confirmation of their nieces. The mom, Julia, says she feels it’s just “not her time” to go back. We think that’s ridiculous and have had long talks with her, but I don’t see her coming back soon.
We had four investigators at church so that was really good for us. Hermana Urrelos and one of our other investigators Juan came along with Erasmo and Julia. Nothing else that’s really new I guess. We did visit an older lady that’s English, but she’s in a care center right now. She was really discouraged because she wants to leave and plan her daughter’s wedding. She’s used to doing a lot, but now is in a care center and is restricted as to what she can do. We helped cheer her up though.
In the process Elder Sharp felt better too. He’s been kind of down and unmotivated lately. He says he doesn’t really want to be a missionary any more. He’s upset at how intense the rules are here and misses his girl friend. Also, he feels like no one want to help him with his health because they don’t let him go to the gym etc. etc. I hope he’s not like this the rest of his mission. I’m not sure how to cheer him up. He’s okay most days, just has rebellious fits every now and then. We’ll see what happens next transfer. Most likely we won’t be in a threesome anymore.
Today there was a huge stake activity that we went to at this really big state park. It was really fun with lots of food and games. That’s why I didn’t write earlier. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. I guess I’ll find out what I’ll be doing the next six weeks on Saturday. That’ll be intense. I’ve been here long enough that I could be moved, but who knows. That’s about all I can think of to say right now so I’ll write next week. Love you all,
Elder Curtis
Monday, May 18, 2009
I guess that’s what I deserve for making a stupid mistake lol.
This week we are at a library in Brea because the one in La Habra is closed till June. It’s part of the same network though so our cards work just fine here. This week has been pretty good. Did I ever tell you James wrote me? I wrote him a letter when he was in the MTC and he wrote back when he got to California. It was pretty funny, because I looked up his address on my GPS and since he’s in a really close mission to us it would only take an hour and 18 minutes to get to his apartment. I was like, “Elder Fraga, we could be there before midnight and then come back in the morning and no one would ever know!” It was pretty funny. Actually there are a lot of things I could do on my mission without anyone finding out…but that’s not why I’m here.
So Elder Swenson (Kyle) came back down to California this weekend for a baptism of a family that’s been taught like 2 years or more. He even baptized one of them. I guess their main problem was that they didn’t want to get married, but they finally did. Anyway, He stayed with OJ and Merllyn so this morning they drove up and we all went bowling together. It was really fun and OJ is a really good teacher.
This week we all decided to get our hair cut and since Kyle left me some hair cutting clippers (like mom has) we decided to do it ourselves. I cut Elder Sharp’s hair like two weeks ago so I thought I knew what I was doing, but then I accidentally put on a number three when I was cutting Elder Fraga’s hair so it came out kind of short. The funny part is that then Elder Sharp cut my hair and made the exact same mistake, only with a number two hahaha. I guess that’s what I deserve for making a stupid mistake lol. We were nervous President would be upset with our hair being too short, but at interviews he didn’t even mention it so we’ll just let it grow back and be more careful next time :)
This week Elder Fraga decided to take up “gardening” so he bought some pots and dirt and planted some sunflowers. They’re small pots and I told him how big sunflowers get, but he doesn’t care. We planted a bunch in each pot and I said we’ve have to thin them when they come up, but he’s like, “no, if we make them fight each other they’ll be stronger like ‘survival of the fittest.’” Funny kid. I don’t think he’ll be able to take them from area to area after they get 10 feet tall. I guess he’ll have to give them to members.
With Elder Sharp’s special needs we got permission to go to the weight room in the mornings and work out. We also got permission to exercise for an extra half hour, or at least he did. So it’s been really nice to get up every morning and have a good workout. I usually run on the treadmill for half an hour and it seems to help. I’m hoping to lose a few pounds too :)
Dad just reminded me we had another earthquake yesterday. It was in LA County and was only a 5.0 so I didn’t even get to feel it this time :( That’s okay though. I’m excited for the big one to come. That’d be cool if it was while I’m still here—then we could just go serve people all day.
We had a really good lesson with Erasmo yesterday and told him we’ve taught him everything we can and that it’s up to him now. He needs to make the decision himself and commit to live a different life. We really emphasized baptism and we know he’s got an answer about this church, he just has to give up his old life and it’s really hard for him. He says he’s still not ready. I guess the only thing left to do is pray for him. He still comes to church and reads the BOM a lot so we really hope he can change. Elder Sharp gave him a blessing yesterday and said he’s a chosen son of God and that he has great things to do, he just needs to put his faith in God and make that blind leap. I have hopes that someday he will change, but he made it clear that it won’t be anytime soon.
Julia is still doing well. She is committed to God and has a determination to live the commandments. She is praying and thinking this week about what she is going to do. She either has to get Alvero to get divorced and get married, or she needs to separate herself from him. She’s deciding this week if she loves him enough to get married. He doesn’t seem to be very motivated himself to change so we’ll see what happens.
Our investigators Estevan and Maria disappeared so we think they moved to Utah. They kept talking about it, so I guess they finally did it.
Rigoberto and Michelle are still needing a divorce before they can get married so we talked to them and tried to help push them along. Hopefully something happens soon. They also need to start living the word of wisdom.
Anyway, things are going well here. I love being with my two great companions and learning from them and joking with them. They are great teachers and know how to use the spirit in their teaching. Elder Sharp has two girls waiting for him so it’s fun to tease him about that.
Thanks for all your support, love, and letters. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Curtis
So Elder Swenson (Kyle) came back down to California this weekend for a baptism of a family that’s been taught like 2 years or more. He even baptized one of them. I guess their main problem was that they didn’t want to get married, but they finally did. Anyway, He stayed with OJ and Merllyn so this morning they drove up and we all went bowling together. It was really fun and OJ is a really good teacher.
This week we all decided to get our hair cut and since Kyle left me some hair cutting clippers (like mom has) we decided to do it ourselves. I cut Elder Sharp’s hair like two weeks ago so I thought I knew what I was doing, but then I accidentally put on a number three when I was cutting Elder Fraga’s hair so it came out kind of short. The funny part is that then Elder Sharp cut my hair and made the exact same mistake, only with a number two hahaha. I guess that’s what I deserve for making a stupid mistake lol. We were nervous President would be upset with our hair being too short, but at interviews he didn’t even mention it so we’ll just let it grow back and be more careful next time :)
This week Elder Fraga decided to take up “gardening” so he bought some pots and dirt and planted some sunflowers. They’re small pots and I told him how big sunflowers get, but he doesn’t care. We planted a bunch in each pot and I said we’ve have to thin them when they come up, but he’s like, “no, if we make them fight each other they’ll be stronger like ‘survival of the fittest.’” Funny kid. I don’t think he’ll be able to take them from area to area after they get 10 feet tall. I guess he’ll have to give them to members.
With Elder Sharp’s special needs we got permission to go to the weight room in the mornings and work out. We also got permission to exercise for an extra half hour, or at least he did. So it’s been really nice to get up every morning and have a good workout. I usually run on the treadmill for half an hour and it seems to help. I’m hoping to lose a few pounds too :)
Dad just reminded me we had another earthquake yesterday. It was in LA County and was only a 5.0 so I didn’t even get to feel it this time :( That’s okay though. I’m excited for the big one to come. That’d be cool if it was while I’m still here—then we could just go serve people all day.
We had a really good lesson with Erasmo yesterday and told him we’ve taught him everything we can and that it’s up to him now. He needs to make the decision himself and commit to live a different life. We really emphasized baptism and we know he’s got an answer about this church, he just has to give up his old life and it’s really hard for him. He says he’s still not ready. I guess the only thing left to do is pray for him. He still comes to church and reads the BOM a lot so we really hope he can change. Elder Sharp gave him a blessing yesterday and said he’s a chosen son of God and that he has great things to do, he just needs to put his faith in God and make that blind leap. I have hopes that someday he will change, but he made it clear that it won’t be anytime soon.
Julia is still doing well. She is committed to God and has a determination to live the commandments. She is praying and thinking this week about what she is going to do. She either has to get Alvero to get divorced and get married, or she needs to separate herself from him. She’s deciding this week if she loves him enough to get married. He doesn’t seem to be very motivated himself to change so we’ll see what happens.
Our investigators Estevan and Maria disappeared so we think they moved to Utah. They kept talking about it, so I guess they finally did it.
Rigoberto and Michelle are still needing a divorce before they can get married so we talked to them and tried to help push them along. Hopefully something happens soon. They also need to start living the word of wisdom.
Anyway, things are going well here. I love being with my two great companions and learning from them and joking with them. They are great teachers and know how to use the spirit in their teaching. Elder Sharp has two girls waiting for him so it’s fun to tease him about that.
Thanks for all your support, love, and letters. Have a good week!
Love,
Elder Curtis
Friday, May 15, 2009
Me (in Spanish): Hi is my Mom there? Dad (also in Spanish): Yes you can, just a sec
Hello everyone. It was great to hear from and talk to everyone in Highland this weekend. Sounds like things are going well. Things are good for me too. We went to Deseret Book today and I bought a new scripture case for my Spanish scriptures. It’ll be nice.
I guess the main news from this week is we had two baptisms and confirmations. Kimberly and Stacy Rico who are 10 and 11 got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. I got to stand in for the confirmations. The baptism was kind of rushed and poorly planned, but we all got an answer in prayer that we needed to do it this weekend while they were still excited. We are really hoping this helps get their parents and their uncles/aunts back to church who are all less active. They came to the confirmation Sunday so I hope they realize it isn’t as bad as they thought.
We were able to teach two families who we haven’t seen in a long time this week --Edith/Juan and Juan/Mariela. We taught 13 lessons with a member present this week so that has really helped.
The other highlight of this week was the trip to the temple we had on Wednesday, but I probably told you about that already huh? I forgot we wrote last Wednesday. Anyway, we did a session that day, then went back to the temple on Saturday for a temple tour. We had an investigator there who is the wife of a member in our ward. It’s Brother and Sister Urrelos. The wife is from Brazil so it’s hard to understand her Spanish. I bet Dad wouldn’t have a problem though. Even my companions have a super hard time, but with the husband there (who grew up in Spanish) we are able to have pretty good lessons.
I don’t have a ton to say this week, just that the Lord is Really looking after us and keeping us safe and guiding us. I know this work is true and the message we take to people will bless their lives, not only on judgment day, but in all they do in this life as well. When we keep the commandments we can be happy, not matter what happens in our life. The Lord will protect and guide us so we learn and grow and even enjoy the experience. Hope this spring brings you all happiness and joy in life. Enjoy the stage you are at right now, because you’ll miss these times.
Love,
Elder Curtis
I guess the main news from this week is we had two baptisms and confirmations. Kimberly and Stacy Rico who are 10 and 11 got baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. I got to stand in for the confirmations. The baptism was kind of rushed and poorly planned, but we all got an answer in prayer that we needed to do it this weekend while they were still excited. We are really hoping this helps get their parents and their uncles/aunts back to church who are all less active. They came to the confirmation Sunday so I hope they realize it isn’t as bad as they thought.
We were able to teach two families who we haven’t seen in a long time this week --Edith/Juan and Juan/Mariela. We taught 13 lessons with a member present this week so that has really helped.
The other highlight of this week was the trip to the temple we had on Wednesday, but I probably told you about that already huh? I forgot we wrote last Wednesday. Anyway, we did a session that day, then went back to the temple on Saturday for a temple tour. We had an investigator there who is the wife of a member in our ward. It’s Brother and Sister Urrelos. The wife is from Brazil so it’s hard to understand her Spanish. I bet Dad wouldn’t have a problem though. Even my companions have a super hard time, but with the husband there (who grew up in Spanish) we are able to have pretty good lessons.
I don’t have a ton to say this week, just that the Lord is Really looking after us and keeping us safe and guiding us. I know this work is true and the message we take to people will bless their lives, not only on judgment day, but in all they do in this life as well. When we keep the commandments we can be happy, not matter what happens in our life. The Lord will protect and guide us so we learn and grow and even enjoy the experience. Hope this spring brings you all happiness and joy in life. Enjoy the stage you are at right now, because you’ll miss these times.
Love,
Elder Curtis
I get to call home on Sunday!
It hasn’t been a long time since I last wrote, but I enjoy writing and I’m sure you enjoy hearing about everything.
Friday night we went and visited a referral we had gotten and it started out really well. I guess they had been taught before and had been to church a couple times so when we gave them the baptism commitment they accepted. It was a woman and her two pregnant daughters, one of which is about to give birth if she hasn’t yet. Since they’d been to church a bunch already my companions were like, “let’s do it tomorrow!” So we had it all planned out to go in the morning and make sure they knew everything they needed to know and were ready, then we’d baptize them at like 5 in the afternoon.
The next day turned out really bad though. Elder Fraga went to correlation in the morning while me and Elder Sharp went to teach them. Latin people are funny though. They think living together counts as being married so we thought they were married, but when we went back in the morning the mother said she was living with someone she wasn’t married to. Elder Sharp is a really frank and bold person so he told her straight out she couldn’t be baptized unless they split up. She got really offended and said her other husband was baptized and then turned into a really terribly nasty person and she even said a previous elder was going to baptize her even if she was with someone. Elder Sharp just told her we can’t baptize her or the condemnation will be on us and she left the room crying.
The two daughters decided they would wait because of all the contention. The only thing is that the mom won’t let us in the house anymore. We went back but she’s too mad at us. It’s really hard for me because I know the daughters would be baptized, but the mother is now an obstacle instead of a catalyst. They need lots of prayers. We had Nancy Pantoja (ward member) there and she went in and talked to her and the lady, Laurel, said they weren’t sleeping together, just living in the same house. It’s a tough situation and I don’t know what to think. I just hope she doesn’t continue to have hard feelings to us and the church. Her daughters are named Asusena and Leslie I think.
Anyway, on to some good news. I get to call home on Sunday! I was thinking maybe you could Skype with my siblings so I could talk to them too from the phone. I don’t know—maybe I’ll be allowed to call them, but if it’s Mother’s day Mom will probably want to be one the other end the whole time. So I guess you can just use speaker phone and maybe we can try the Skype. I haven’t heard anything about it yet, but I assume it will just be in the evening. Guess you’ll find out :)
Despite the problem we had on Saturday, we’ve actually had a lot of success. Stazie and Kimberly, the 10 and 11 year old, are doing really well and they’re getting baptized this Sunday. They are the kids of one of the less active Rico families and they’re really fun to teach. Hopefully we’ll be able to baptize more in the coming weeks of this month.
Erasmo is still struggling to get an answer, but we had a special fast for him on Sunday. I hope everything works out. Personally, I think he already got an answer, he just doesn’t know it, or doesn’t feel ready.
For Julia and Rigo/Michelle we need to get them to keep the word of wisdom and get married still. We were finally able to meet with Edith/Juan again, who we haven’t talked to since I was with Elder Swenson, and we also were able to teach Juan/Mariela with a member so things are going well.
I’m having a great time here and I’m excited to talk on Sunday. That’s about it I guess. Just start thinking of lots of specific questions you can ask me over the phone. Otherwise, I won’t really know what to say. Thanks for the fun letters and the family news letters. I have the best family in the world!
Love, Elder Curtis
P.S.
I forgot to tell you, we got information about the swine flu in zone conference last week and they gave us a paper on how to stay healthy. I don't really think it's a problem here in California, but in the mission Elder Sharp is from everything is shut down! The missionaries can't even leave their apartment and all church is canceled so he's pretty glad not to have to deal with that. Don't get me wrong he was very disappointed not to be able to go back to his Mexico mission, but he's glad not to be stuck in an apartment with nothing to do.
Friday night we went and visited a referral we had gotten and it started out really well. I guess they had been taught before and had been to church a couple times so when we gave them the baptism commitment they accepted. It was a woman and her two pregnant daughters, one of which is about to give birth if she hasn’t yet. Since they’d been to church a bunch already my companions were like, “let’s do it tomorrow!” So we had it all planned out to go in the morning and make sure they knew everything they needed to know and were ready, then we’d baptize them at like 5 in the afternoon.
The next day turned out really bad though. Elder Fraga went to correlation in the morning while me and Elder Sharp went to teach them. Latin people are funny though. They think living together counts as being married so we thought they were married, but when we went back in the morning the mother said she was living with someone she wasn’t married to. Elder Sharp is a really frank and bold person so he told her straight out she couldn’t be baptized unless they split up. She got really offended and said her other husband was baptized and then turned into a really terribly nasty person and she even said a previous elder was going to baptize her even if she was with someone. Elder Sharp just told her we can’t baptize her or the condemnation will be on us and she left the room crying.
The two daughters decided they would wait because of all the contention. The only thing is that the mom won’t let us in the house anymore. We went back but she’s too mad at us. It’s really hard for me because I know the daughters would be baptized, but the mother is now an obstacle instead of a catalyst. They need lots of prayers. We had Nancy Pantoja (ward member) there and she went in and talked to her and the lady, Laurel, said they weren’t sleeping together, just living in the same house. It’s a tough situation and I don’t know what to think. I just hope she doesn’t continue to have hard feelings to us and the church. Her daughters are named Asusena and Leslie I think.
Anyway, on to some good news. I get to call home on Sunday! I was thinking maybe you could Skype with my siblings so I could talk to them too from the phone. I don’t know—maybe I’ll be allowed to call them, but if it’s Mother’s day Mom will probably want to be one the other end the whole time. So I guess you can just use speaker phone and maybe we can try the Skype. I haven’t heard anything about it yet, but I assume it will just be in the evening. Guess you’ll find out :)
Despite the problem we had on Saturday, we’ve actually had a lot of success. Stazie and Kimberly, the 10 and 11 year old, are doing really well and they’re getting baptized this Sunday. They are the kids of one of the less active Rico families and they’re really fun to teach. Hopefully we’ll be able to baptize more in the coming weeks of this month.
Erasmo is still struggling to get an answer, but we had a special fast for him on Sunday. I hope everything works out. Personally, I think he already got an answer, he just doesn’t know it, or doesn’t feel ready.
For Julia and Rigo/Michelle we need to get them to keep the word of wisdom and get married still. We were finally able to meet with Edith/Juan again, who we haven’t talked to since I was with Elder Swenson, and we also were able to teach Juan/Mariela with a member so things are going well.
I’m having a great time here and I’m excited to talk on Sunday. That’s about it I guess. Just start thinking of lots of specific questions you can ask me over the phone. Otherwise, I won’t really know what to say. Thanks for the fun letters and the family news letters. I have the best family in the world!
Love, Elder Curtis
P.S.
I forgot to tell you, we got information about the swine flu in zone conference last week and they gave us a paper on how to stay healthy. I don't really think it's a problem here in California, but in the mission Elder Sharp is from everything is shut down! The missionaries can't even leave their apartment and all church is canceled so he's pretty glad not to have to deal with that. Don't get me wrong he was very disappointed not to be able to go back to his Mexico mission, but he's glad not to be stuck in an apartment with nothing to do.
Friday, May 1, 2009
They gave us 51 referrals!!!!!
Hello from California! This week is so weird. On Monday we did our shopping and laundry, but then the rest of the day was regular since they decided to have p-day today. We have it today because we went to the Special Olympics for the “differently-abled” or the handicapped. It was pretty cool. We had a little stand and made characters out of those long balloons and gave them to the kids. We made balloon hats, swords, dogs, and lots of interesting new inventions the missionaries made. It was fun and I mostly made swords because they are easiest. We had zone conference on Tuesday and we don’t have district meeting and weekly planning isn’t until tomorrow (it’s usually on Fridays) so it’s a really weird week.
Last week we were able to do service as well for the city of Fullerton. It was just a city activity that we went to and volunteered for a couple hours. Last Thursday I went on exchanges with my district leader Elder Keeler so that was a fun and enjoyable day that was a little different.
The most interesting thing though is that now I’m in a threesome. My new companion is named Elder Sharp. He served in Mexico City for 18 months then had to go home because his pancreas stopped working and he developed type 1 diabetes. He was home for a couple months then got reassigned here so now we have a new companion. He’s a really amazing missionary and has helped us and taught us so much! He’s from Dallas. We’ve set like 4 baptism dates since he’s been here and none of them were even our most solid investigators.
In Zone Conference president set a new system that you set a baptism date with people the very first time you meet with them. It’s what Elder Sharp’s been doing all along in Mexico so he helped faithless me and Elder Fraga to get going. It’s really been great. We’ve had amazing lessons full of so much power and spirit. We’ve been using visual aids, and Elder Sharp is such a good teacher. Two of the new people with a date are from a less active family. They are two girls ages 10 and 11. We also set a date with a different less-active’s son and he’s in his 30’s. I know it was true inspiration to have Elder Sharp with us. He’s got a great attitude and lifts our spirits.
Another miracle we had was when we tried out Elder Sharp’s method of asking for referrals. You have them close their eyes and explain that we’re going to sing a song and invite the spirit to give them inspiration of who should have the missionary lessons. Then we have a prayer and then he asks six really good questions that really help them think of everyone they know. We’ve done it once at a dinner appointment and there were 5 adults there. They gave us 51 referrals!!!!! Not all of them are in our area, but that’s not important – they’re still children of God. It was amazing.
Sounds like you are doing well S,J, and Miyah! Thanks for the pictures you’ve sent. I was pretty surprised to hear about shoveling snow off the driveway (in Utah) in one letter, and then in the next hear about Dad mowing the lawn. I guess that’s a good thing, I just didn’t expect it to melt that fast. Glad your winter is finally coming to an end. Summer is rapidly approaching here. It’s going to get really hot soon and I’m not looking forward to it. I wish it would just stay in the 70’s and 80’s.
I continue to enjoy reading about the crazy things Tereesah and Ross do and how Anna manages to stay sane. Good luck over there :)
Let me know if you guys have any specific questions about all the things I’ve talked about like my new companion or whatever else. I think I’ll be writing again on Wednesday since we are going to the temple that day so they are moving p-day again. Anyway, love you all and wish the best!
Love,
Elder Curtis
Last week we were able to do service as well for the city of Fullerton. It was just a city activity that we went to and volunteered for a couple hours. Last Thursday I went on exchanges with my district leader Elder Keeler so that was a fun and enjoyable day that was a little different.
The most interesting thing though is that now I’m in a threesome. My new companion is named Elder Sharp. He served in Mexico City for 18 months then had to go home because his pancreas stopped working and he developed type 1 diabetes. He was home for a couple months then got reassigned here so now we have a new companion. He’s a really amazing missionary and has helped us and taught us so much! He’s from Dallas. We’ve set like 4 baptism dates since he’s been here and none of them were even our most solid investigators.
In Zone Conference president set a new system that you set a baptism date with people the very first time you meet with them. It’s what Elder Sharp’s been doing all along in Mexico so he helped faithless me and Elder Fraga to get going. It’s really been great. We’ve had amazing lessons full of so much power and spirit. We’ve been using visual aids, and Elder Sharp is such a good teacher. Two of the new people with a date are from a less active family. They are two girls ages 10 and 11. We also set a date with a different less-active’s son and he’s in his 30’s. I know it was true inspiration to have Elder Sharp with us. He’s got a great attitude and lifts our spirits.
Another miracle we had was when we tried out Elder Sharp’s method of asking for referrals. You have them close their eyes and explain that we’re going to sing a song and invite the spirit to give them inspiration of who should have the missionary lessons. Then we have a prayer and then he asks six really good questions that really help them think of everyone they know. We’ve done it once at a dinner appointment and there were 5 adults there. They gave us 51 referrals!!!!! Not all of them are in our area, but that’s not important – they’re still children of God. It was amazing.
Sounds like you are doing well S,J, and Miyah! Thanks for the pictures you’ve sent. I was pretty surprised to hear about shoveling snow off the driveway (in Utah) in one letter, and then in the next hear about Dad mowing the lawn. I guess that’s a good thing, I just didn’t expect it to melt that fast. Glad your winter is finally coming to an end. Summer is rapidly approaching here. It’s going to get really hot soon and I’m not looking forward to it. I wish it would just stay in the 70’s and 80’s.
I continue to enjoy reading about the crazy things Tereesah and Ross do and how Anna manages to stay sane. Good luck over there :)
Let me know if you guys have any specific questions about all the things I’ve talked about like my new companion or whatever else. I think I’ll be writing again on Wednesday since we are going to the temple that day so they are moving p-day again. Anyway, love you all and wish the best!
Love,
Elder Curtis
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