Today was my day to attend a session at the temple. So, that makes today my preparation day, hence why you have not heard from me. Next week we are going to have a mission conference so my p-day next week will be on Tuesday. Anyway, things are going really well for us. We continue to teach Bro. Omid Rahimi and help him progress towards baptism. He still has the possibility to be baptized on the 24th, but it is up to him to prepare himself to do so. He had to buy a new car this week because his other one burned to a crisp (it literally caught on fire).
On Miyah's first birthday (and lots of other annual celebrations) we taught sister Renissa Dobbins, who has been taught for a while, but is still unsure of what she wants to do. We made things very clear. The bishop and one of his councilors even went over the night before to help her feel good about it, but she can't make up her mind, and it is especially hard for her to attend church when she isn't sure that it's true.
We are also still teaching Aaron the Muslim every week and he doesn't understand yet that physical things aren't important, but spiritual things, i.e. answers from God about truth. He just likes to debate about religion and the bible. Hopefully he will feel something powerful as he reads the Book of Mormon.
Sister Sharon Rae who is the friend of a recent convert in the ward came to church again on Sunday and brought her son Brendan (11), but her son Shane (13) was too busy watching sports at home. We taught them for the first time on Wednesday and committed them to baptism, but it will have to wait till May because Shane didn't go to church :P ......why is that name familiar?
We taught Azita Thursday and also gave her a blessing. She has a hard time committing to paying tithing, but she's going to pray about it. We saw her at church, so at least she is making progress.
Saturday the Westpark Elders had a baptism. I was actually on exchanges with Elder Earl in Oak Creek/Irvine Ranch Branch for the day. We had a pretty good day and Elder Gillman even taught Nicole a lesson with Elder Corbeil. She is really struggling and her mom doesn't give much support with regards to our church. Usually Nicole just goes to the Episcopal Church. Last night we taught a little family of two (mother and 14 year old son) named the Burnettes. Unfortunately we haven't taught Sister Grace Mendoza again so hopefully our appointment on Friday works out. She is going to have to postpone her date as well.
So things continue just fine here in Irvine and I lose track of time, but the work is great and I enjoy every date (of the month). Hope you all are doing well, thanks for all being so swell. Love you as much as all the letters I get from you.
Elder Curtis
Friday, April 16, 2010
Answering Our Prayers (Apr 5)
Good morning. Yesterday when we were tracting there was an earthquake. It was in Mexico and it was a 7.2 and it was a long one! It obviously wasn't as big once it got up to us, but we were still rocking and rolling. At first I thought I was getting lightheaded or dizzy or something because I was losing my balance, but then Elder Gillman was like "earthquake!" It was pretty crazy, but it didn't do any damage where we were. It must have been pretty bad down in San Diego. But of course I would never know unless someone told me since I don't watch the news.
We had a good week and a great weekend! I love listening to the prophets and apostles. It's always a nice treat for my birthday. Priesthood session was really good.
This week we taught Omid and he even came to a session of conference. I guess he like it too. We also taught a different guy named Omar, but he's American. He's pretty nice and has visited with missionaries almost his whole life so maybe we can finally seal the deal lol. On Thursday we had a miracle when we taught a first lesson to a lady named Grace. She has two young autistic children and she's really interested, in fact, she accepted a baptismal date for April 24th! Thursday was also zone conference, but we managed to get three lessons in. After Grace, we taught two people at once. Elder Gillman went with a brother in the ward and taught Renissa, and I stayed at the church (where we had correlation) and taught a lady named Azita, who was baptized not too long ago with Brother Jackson and Sister Jester who are the ward missionaries for the Lake ward. Friday we taught a less active named Brother Graham and he says he definitely knows it is true, he just has gotten out of the habit of living the gospel so he said it would take a while to get back into it. He even served a mission back in the day.
We had two other miracle people this week. One is a lady named Brenda Congie. She lives in our complex and we talked to her on her doorstep a couple times and she really likes everything about the church (even polygamy). On Sunday she brought her husband and her son to the morning session of conference. It was really cool--we did not expect that because she said her husband didn't want her to go. I think he softened up and he was even reading from the Book of Mormon. We talked to another lady named Valeta Cox who wants her grandchildren to start attending our church (and her too I guess) so we've had some great finds. God truly has been answering our prayers.
Hope you all enjoyed conference and will try to apply at least a couple things you learned this weekend. I am so grateful for the wonderful messages that were shared. Thanks again for all your support and love and prayers. They help a lot :) Love you as much as all the great talks and miracles this week.
Elder Curtis
We had a good week and a great weekend! I love listening to the prophets and apostles. It's always a nice treat for my birthday. Priesthood session was really good.
This week we taught Omid and he even came to a session of conference. I guess he like it too. We also taught a different guy named Omar, but he's American. He's pretty nice and has visited with missionaries almost his whole life so maybe we can finally seal the deal lol. On Thursday we had a miracle when we taught a first lesson to a lady named Grace. She has two young autistic children and she's really interested, in fact, she accepted a baptismal date for April 24th! Thursday was also zone conference, but we managed to get three lessons in. After Grace, we taught two people at once. Elder Gillman went with a brother in the ward and taught Renissa, and I stayed at the church (where we had correlation) and taught a lady named Azita, who was baptized not too long ago with Brother Jackson and Sister Jester who are the ward missionaries for the Lake ward. Friday we taught a less active named Brother Graham and he says he definitely knows it is true, he just has gotten out of the habit of living the gospel so he said it would take a while to get back into it. He even served a mission back in the day.
We had two other miracle people this week. One is a lady named Brenda Congie. She lives in our complex and we talked to her on her doorstep a couple times and she really likes everything about the church (even polygamy). On Sunday she brought her husband and her son to the morning session of conference. It was really cool--we did not expect that because she said her husband didn't want her to go. I think he softened up and he was even reading from the Book of Mormon. We talked to another lady named Valeta Cox who wants her grandchildren to start attending our church (and her too I guess) so we've had some great finds. God truly has been answering our prayers.
Hope you all enjoyed conference and will try to apply at least a couple things you learned this weekend. I am so grateful for the wonderful messages that were shared. Thanks again for all your support and love and prayers. They help a lot :) Love you as much as all the great talks and miracles this week.
Elder Curtis
A Beautiful Day (Mar 29)
Hello! I hope this wonderful day finds you all in good condition--happy and healthy. I am both of those as well. I had a pretty good first week here. Monday was chaos of course, but we had a good week teaching and preaching. Elder Gillman is of similar personality to me. He is smart and works hard, being obedient along the way. He's quiet and dignified and has great insights and scripture knowledge.
This week we started teaching a less active named Shawn as part of the ward mission process. He had good questions and wants to find out once and for all if the gospel is true. We had a good lesson and are going to keep teaching him. On the other hand we talked to a guy named Mark, who once was a member, but now doesn't even believe in God anymore. He's turned into a Buddhist. He is Asian, but he uses his knowledge to justify his new way of thinking. He is extremely smart, and that is the downfall of many. For when they are learned, they think they are wise.
Now that I'm back in Irvine, I am once more in the land of Muslims (and Asians, and rich whites). Every time we find a Muslim who is interested in learning about the Gospel, they have to be interviewed by the mission presidency before we can even start teaching them. We had that one in Costa Mesa, but here they are much more common. We had an interview on Saturday and got permission to teach this guy who has a beard and everything. I guess he studies the bible multiple hours a day. We need to have another interview this week because there is this other guy that's kind of interested in learning. The first is named Aaron, and the other is Omid.
Tuesday and Thursday we actually did a lot of service. That was pretty nice, because we don't get that chance too often. Tuesday, we helped a couple who had recently moved in install a washer and dryer upstairs. We had to take the old dryer and washer downstairs and the new ones upstairs. Then on Thursday he called because the new dryer didn't work so we had to switch it back with the old one. On Thursday we also helped a less active lady pack and prepare to move. That night we also taught a less-active lady named Azita with our ward mission leader and assistant from the Lake ward after our correlation meeting with them.
On Friday a recent convert named Sister Sanchez referred us to her friend Sharon. She is pretty interested and even came to church at the Woodbridge ward. She stayed all three hours then even came to the lake ward break the fast with Sister Sanchez. She's pretty nice. Saturday we taught our investigators Nicole and her daughter Abby (what a coincidence lol) and she is interested, but it's hard for her to commit. She's a little timid, but wants to know the truth. She said she's confused. I hope she reads and gets an answer. Other people you can pray for are Renissa, Omar, Grace, James, and Jerri.
Sunday was a beautiful day outside and I enjoyed being at the church for nine hours since we cover two wards and have to go to lots of meetings and because we had a break the fast after the lake ward lol. It was a special day. Thanks for the nice package. I'm really going to enjoy everything you sent :) We are listening to conference to get excited for conference ha-ha I’m so excited for Conference =D Alrighty, hope you all have a good week. Love you as much as all the new people I met this week.
Elder Curtis
This week we started teaching a less active named Shawn as part of the ward mission process. He had good questions and wants to find out once and for all if the gospel is true. We had a good lesson and are going to keep teaching him. On the other hand we talked to a guy named Mark, who once was a member, but now doesn't even believe in God anymore. He's turned into a Buddhist. He is Asian, but he uses his knowledge to justify his new way of thinking. He is extremely smart, and that is the downfall of many. For when they are learned, they think they are wise.
Now that I'm back in Irvine, I am once more in the land of Muslims (and Asians, and rich whites). Every time we find a Muslim who is interested in learning about the Gospel, they have to be interviewed by the mission presidency before we can even start teaching them. We had that one in Costa Mesa, but here they are much more common. We had an interview on Saturday and got permission to teach this guy who has a beard and everything. I guess he studies the bible multiple hours a day. We need to have another interview this week because there is this other guy that's kind of interested in learning. The first is named Aaron, and the other is Omid.
Tuesday and Thursday we actually did a lot of service. That was pretty nice, because we don't get that chance too often. Tuesday, we helped a couple who had recently moved in install a washer and dryer upstairs. We had to take the old dryer and washer downstairs and the new ones upstairs. Then on Thursday he called because the new dryer didn't work so we had to switch it back with the old one. On Thursday we also helped a less active lady pack and prepare to move. That night we also taught a less-active lady named Azita with our ward mission leader and assistant from the Lake ward after our correlation meeting with them.
On Friday a recent convert named Sister Sanchez referred us to her friend Sharon. She is pretty interested and even came to church at the Woodbridge ward. She stayed all three hours then even came to the lake ward break the fast with Sister Sanchez. She's pretty nice. Saturday we taught our investigators Nicole and her daughter Abby (what a coincidence lol) and she is interested, but it's hard for her to commit. She's a little timid, but wants to know the truth. She said she's confused. I hope she reads and gets an answer. Other people you can pray for are Renissa, Omar, Grace, James, and Jerri.
Sunday was a beautiful day outside and I enjoyed being at the church for nine hours since we cover two wards and have to go to lots of meetings and because we had a break the fast after the lake ward lol. It was a special day. Thanks for the nice package. I'm really going to enjoy everything you sent :) We are listening to conference to get excited for conference ha-ha I’m so excited for Conference =D Alrighty, hope you all have a good week. Love you as much as all the new people I met this week.
Elder Curtis
I want to be (Mar 22)
Dear everyone,
Hold on to your chairs, this one might be a shocker--yep, I got transferred again. Transferred back to Irvine, but not Harbor Hills. We cover two wards actually: the Woodbridge ward and the Lake ward. The Lake ward is a mid-singles ward which means it's a singles ward, but for people thirty and over. My new companion is Elder Gillman from Lindon, Utah. He's pretty cool and I'm excited to work with him. I really like my new apartment and it's a nice area (like anywhere in Irvine isn't lol) so things should be great. We have a Mazda 3 for our car, but the bummer is that it's a 2006 model so it's kind of old, especially compared to the 2010 Malibu I just left. Elder Robertson actually got transferred as well because they are reducing the CM2 ward back to only one set of missionaries, so Elders Hughes and Hewlett who were in the South area of CM2 are now covering the whole ward. I hope they take good care of our investigators :)
This last week was a good one. Elder Robertson and I had some good success and lots of fun doing it. We set a baptismal date with Carl for the 10th and one with sister Peters for the 4th after conference. I don't know if they'll make those dates or not, but they are taking an important step towards making the covenant of baptism. We also made contact with John Windsor who was baptized in September, but hasn't been to church for a while due to the two jobs he has to work to stay alive. He doesn't have anywhere to live so a member in the ward is graciously allowing him to sleep there. He can't afford to fix his car, even though all he does for work is drive it because he delivers pizza for two places. I really hope he is able to get a better job soon. He said he's had some offers so I hope his life improves before too long. We also taught a guy named Chris who recently converted to Islam as I mentioned before. He has a sincere desire and is really interested in religion, but he's convinced he's found the truth. We tried to help him see that he can look at the facts and compare the Quor'an to the Holy Bible all he wants, but he won't know it's true until he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it. That's the key and that's what every investigator has to do to gain a real testimony.
We also taught another new investigator this week who seems pretty interested. Her name is Nancy and she's a little over fifty. We taught her the Restoration of the gospel and she seemed to accept it, but she wasn't ready to set a baptismal date. We had a really good lesson with Sister Jazmyn Bower on Saturday and brought Brother Call. He's an older man and took time out of preparing for his son's wedding (which was that day) to come with us because he said the gospel is more important. It saved us because we called like half the ward and no one could come with us. I guess it was divine intervention because he helped a lot and was able to answer her questions when we couldn't. He spoke very powerfully and it was a very beneficial lesson. When I am a regular member, I don't want to be like the guy who decided to do his taxes that were due in four weeks instead of come with us. I want to be the guy that sacrifices to go teach the gospel with the missionaries, because those people have such a good spirit about them.
I'd better go so we can shop before we have to be done with our p-day (at six) so hope you all have a good week. Love you as much as all the times I've been transferred the last six weeks.
Elder Curtis
Hold on to your chairs, this one might be a shocker--yep, I got transferred again. Transferred back to Irvine, but not Harbor Hills. We cover two wards actually: the Woodbridge ward and the Lake ward. The Lake ward is a mid-singles ward which means it's a singles ward, but for people thirty and over. My new companion is Elder Gillman from Lindon, Utah. He's pretty cool and I'm excited to work with him. I really like my new apartment and it's a nice area (like anywhere in Irvine isn't lol) so things should be great. We have a Mazda 3 for our car, but the bummer is that it's a 2006 model so it's kind of old, especially compared to the 2010 Malibu I just left. Elder Robertson actually got transferred as well because they are reducing the CM2 ward back to only one set of missionaries, so Elders Hughes and Hewlett who were in the South area of CM2 are now covering the whole ward. I hope they take good care of our investigators :)
This last week was a good one. Elder Robertson and I had some good success and lots of fun doing it. We set a baptismal date with Carl for the 10th and one with sister Peters for the 4th after conference. I don't know if they'll make those dates or not, but they are taking an important step towards making the covenant of baptism. We also made contact with John Windsor who was baptized in September, but hasn't been to church for a while due to the two jobs he has to work to stay alive. He doesn't have anywhere to live so a member in the ward is graciously allowing him to sleep there. He can't afford to fix his car, even though all he does for work is drive it because he delivers pizza for two places. I really hope he is able to get a better job soon. He said he's had some offers so I hope his life improves before too long. We also taught a guy named Chris who recently converted to Islam as I mentioned before. He has a sincere desire and is really interested in religion, but he's convinced he's found the truth. We tried to help him see that he can look at the facts and compare the Quor'an to the Holy Bible all he wants, but he won't know it's true until he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it. That's the key and that's what every investigator has to do to gain a real testimony.
We also taught another new investigator this week who seems pretty interested. Her name is Nancy and she's a little over fifty. We taught her the Restoration of the gospel and she seemed to accept it, but she wasn't ready to set a baptismal date. We had a really good lesson with Sister Jazmyn Bower on Saturday and brought Brother Call. He's an older man and took time out of preparing for his son's wedding (which was that day) to come with us because he said the gospel is more important. It saved us because we called like half the ward and no one could come with us. I guess it was divine intervention because he helped a lot and was able to answer her questions when we couldn't. He spoke very powerfully and it was a very beneficial lesson. When I am a regular member, I don't want to be like the guy who decided to do his taxes that were due in four weeks instead of come with us. I want to be the guy that sacrifices to go teach the gospel with the missionaries, because those people have such a good spirit about them.
I'd better go so we can shop before we have to be done with our p-day (at six) so hope you all have a good week. Love you as much as all the times I've been transferred the last six weeks.
Elder Curtis
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Maybe he'll even read the BOM and feel the spirit :) (Mar 15)
Hello to all...Elder Curtis speaking here, how are you?
Things are moving right along here in the Costa Mesa 2nd ward. On Wednesday we taught Jazmyn Bower. She's an investigator that's been around for a while and she has a hard time coming to church at 1 o'clock so this week we invited her to the Costa Mesa first ward, which meets at nine o'clock. She didn't make it to sacrament meeting, but she did come for Sunday school so that was exciting for us. I think she will be baptized as long as her family gives her support and she doesn't have more health problems. We are going to try and set a date this week.
We taught four lessons on Wednesday actually--it was sweet. We taught a guy (Chris) who's been Muslim for only about a month, but he's already pretty strongly converted. He wants to know why he even needs to consider joining, when Islam, according to him, is the most strict religion in conduct. It does have some intricate and specific rules, but the dedication you have to put into it isn't any greater that our church I think. Anyway, he likes talking about religion so he doesn't mind discussing it with us. Maybe he'll even read the BOM and feel the spirit. :)
Another person we taught Wednesday was Sasha who works for Sister Anderson-Davis. He got baptized in December so we are teaching the recent convert discussions. He's actually moving with the family to Utah though, contrary to what I said in a previous email, so we have to teach him three more lessons before he leaves at the end of the month.
The last lesson we taught Wednesday was Carl Makror. He is the one with the member wife who wants him to be the one to set the baptismal date. We are going to have to get over that though, because I talked to President about it and he said we are Christ's representatives so the baptismal date has to come from Him, not from us or them.
Something we've been doing lately is going through the ward list and visiting the people who haven't been marked as active or less-active. We found some really nice people from it so far. We taught a less-active family (couple) on Friday and found another cool family on Saturday so it's going pretty well. Once we visit someone we knock the doors around them. It's the better way to tract because you are being led to areas instead of trying to pick a neighborhood to tract.
Last night we taught the Collins family. The father has been less-active so he got put on the ward mission process and we've been teaching the whole family (the missionaries have anyway, it was my first lesson with them). It was a good discussion last night and we'll teach them one more time next Sunday.
I better be done so I'll let you know if I get transferred this weekend or not next week. :) We'll see if it was a temporary fill in, or an assignment that will take a while. Either way, I'll go where I'm called because I am learning from every experience that I encounter. Thank you all so much for your prayers, your love, and your letters. Lately I've been dumbfounded at how little time I have left, time flies and it amazes me every time, even though I've come to expect it. Have a good week. I love you as much as all the nifty new technology in this crazy store :)
Elder Curtis
Things are moving right along here in the Costa Mesa 2nd ward. On Wednesday we taught Jazmyn Bower. She's an investigator that's been around for a while and she has a hard time coming to church at 1 o'clock so this week we invited her to the Costa Mesa first ward, which meets at nine o'clock. She didn't make it to sacrament meeting, but she did come for Sunday school so that was exciting for us. I think she will be baptized as long as her family gives her support and she doesn't have more health problems. We are going to try and set a date this week.
We taught four lessons on Wednesday actually--it was sweet. We taught a guy (Chris) who's been Muslim for only about a month, but he's already pretty strongly converted. He wants to know why he even needs to consider joining, when Islam, according to him, is the most strict religion in conduct. It does have some intricate and specific rules, but the dedication you have to put into it isn't any greater that our church I think. Anyway, he likes talking about religion so he doesn't mind discussing it with us. Maybe he'll even read the BOM and feel the spirit. :)
Another person we taught Wednesday was Sasha who works for Sister Anderson-Davis. He got baptized in December so we are teaching the recent convert discussions. He's actually moving with the family to Utah though, contrary to what I said in a previous email, so we have to teach him three more lessons before he leaves at the end of the month.
The last lesson we taught Wednesday was Carl Makror. He is the one with the member wife who wants him to be the one to set the baptismal date. We are going to have to get over that though, because I talked to President about it and he said we are Christ's representatives so the baptismal date has to come from Him, not from us or them.
Something we've been doing lately is going through the ward list and visiting the people who haven't been marked as active or less-active. We found some really nice people from it so far. We taught a less-active family (couple) on Friday and found another cool family on Saturday so it's going pretty well. Once we visit someone we knock the doors around them. It's the better way to tract because you are being led to areas instead of trying to pick a neighborhood to tract.
Last night we taught the Collins family. The father has been less-active so he got put on the ward mission process and we've been teaching the whole family (the missionaries have anyway, it was my first lesson with them). It was a good discussion last night and we'll teach them one more time next Sunday.
I better be done so I'll let you know if I get transferred this weekend or not next week. :) We'll see if it was a temporary fill in, or an assignment that will take a while. Either way, I'll go where I'm called because I am learning from every experience that I encounter. Thank you all so much for your prayers, your love, and your letters. Lately I've been dumbfounded at how little time I have left, time flies and it amazes me every time, even though I've come to expect it. Have a good week. I love you as much as all the nifty new technology in this crazy store :)
Elder Curtis
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