Hey everybody. This week I have some really interesting news.
First of all, this Friday we are doing a service for a Special Olympics (Olympics for the handicapped), so they moved half of p-day to Friday so I won't be writing my long letter till then.
The next bit of interesting news is that today I get a new companion! Actually both me and Elder Fraga get a new companion, which means we'll be in a threesome for the rest of this transfer. He's coming from a different mission, and right now I don't know anything about him, so I'll tell about it on Friday.
The last bit of news is that we had 2 tiny earthquakes on the 23rd. They were small enough that they didn't do any damage, but large enough that I felt one of them! Pretty crazy huh!
I need to go now and pick up my new comp so have a good week! Till Friday!
Elder Curtis
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tastes Like Chicken
Well hi everyone! I found out Saturday that I’ll be with my Chilango, Elder Fraga for another transfer in this area. So my address is still the same. Seems weird how fast time is going. Once you get into the swing of things, time really goes by fast. Life is really good though and I’m happy to be a part of this work.
How’s the baby doing? And how are you doing Stormie? I was talking to the lady we visit every Thursday night, Merylnn, and she said that she thinks it’s easier to give birth the natural way. She said you kind of forget the pain and then the recovery is really fast so hopefully your future babies will be easier :)
I had a good Easter Sunday. The ward choir sang in sacrament meeting. They wanted a soloist so I decided to volunteer so I sang a verse by myself (with a microphone). It was a good sacrament meeting. I also had fun coloring Easter eggs by myself. I did about 10. Elder Fraga didn’t want to do any. I’ll take a picture of them. Too bad the paint was dried out. Someone should complain about that.
I’m glad to have Elder Fraga for another transfer. I’ll be able to keep learning lots from him and hopefully set a good example for him too. He joined the church when he was 11 when the rest of his family was converted. I’m not sure if any of his extended family are members. He has a brother going to BYU and the rest are in Mexico. He loved BYU Hawaii and is constantly raving about it and even half convinced Elder Keeler to go there after his mission. He says the people are really laid back (“chill”) and he went to the beach all the time. He wasn’t really by any cities so that’s all there really was to do anyway lol He went to English school in Provo to learn enough English to go to school in the USA then went to BYUH.
The last couple days have been really hot! Yesterday it got up into the 100’s! It’s about that hot today too. Man, I get so much hotter when I have to wear a tight collar, tie, and warm long pants. Yesterday I almost died—especially since the place we were teaching didn’t have air conditioning—most probably don’t though. Just small little apartments with poor Mexicans living in them. It was the member’s house where we teach Erasmo. Luckily we/they decided to have dinner out back in the shade of the building. The lesson went well and he understands everything just fine, he just says he isn’t ready to drop everything and do what God asks. He needs that strong confirmation from God so keep him in your prayers.
Julia is doing really well and is super ready for baptism. We still aren’t sure what to do about her guy friend who is married though. I don’t know if he wants to go to the trouble of getting a divorce and getting married. She accepted the word of wisdom really well though—even though she has multiple issues with it. She is determined to change so I think it’ll happen. I’m not sure if she’ll be ready by her date on the 10th, but she has a testimony. Like I said Erasmo probably isn’t going to be ready by this Sunday so we’ll have to set a new date and wait till he’s gotten an answer.
We had another temple tour on Saturday so that was good. Erasmo was the only one that came (of our investigators) just like last time but I liked it. Right before we went down, we ate lunch with Elder Keeler and Gillespie. It was at a Mexican place and I was looking at the menu and saw this appetizer that was a bowl of crickets. It looked really gross. Anyway, when I was ordering I asked for soup and the waitress said it was really small so I was deciding what to do when all of a sudden Elder Keeler finished my order for me. I knew what was coming so when the cheese and cricket quesadilla was put in front of me I wasn’t too surprised. The elders didn’t make me pay for it, but I did end up taking one bite. Tastes like chicken. Lol just kidding. It’s not that yummy, but it didn’t have too strong a taste. I don’t really have a stomach for any more though haha. Especially after I could feel the little hard legs in my mouth. We all tried some, but none of us liked it enough to finish it lol so Elder Keeler and Gillespie took half to a member or something.
That’s crazy about Trevor. I have no idea if he had a girlfriend before his mission. I never heard anything. Not that I knew everything about him though. Thanks for the funny stories about Tereesah. That is SO funny that she uses the word “pretty.” It makes me think of when Julian was here and wanted to know why we use that word. Sounds like she’s making progress towards being potty trained. She’s a smart girl :) There’s this one little girl in our ward—she’s the granddaughter of Obispo Cerda and we were eating dinner with them one night and she was being so silly. She likes Pinocchio and she said “Pinonio has a long nose like Him (in Spanish)” referring to me of course. It was really funny.
Anyway, I love you all. Hope your week goes well!
Love,
Elder Curtis
How’s the baby doing? And how are you doing Stormie? I was talking to the lady we visit every Thursday night, Merylnn, and she said that she thinks it’s easier to give birth the natural way. She said you kind of forget the pain and then the recovery is really fast so hopefully your future babies will be easier :)
I had a good Easter Sunday. The ward choir sang in sacrament meeting. They wanted a soloist so I decided to volunteer so I sang a verse by myself (with a microphone). It was a good sacrament meeting. I also had fun coloring Easter eggs by myself. I did about 10. Elder Fraga didn’t want to do any. I’ll take a picture of them. Too bad the paint was dried out. Someone should complain about that.
I’m glad to have Elder Fraga for another transfer. I’ll be able to keep learning lots from him and hopefully set a good example for him too. He joined the church when he was 11 when the rest of his family was converted. I’m not sure if any of his extended family are members. He has a brother going to BYU and the rest are in Mexico. He loved BYU Hawaii and is constantly raving about it and even half convinced Elder Keeler to go there after his mission. He says the people are really laid back (“chill”) and he went to the beach all the time. He wasn’t really by any cities so that’s all there really was to do anyway lol He went to English school in Provo to learn enough English to go to school in the USA then went to BYUH.
The last couple days have been really hot! Yesterday it got up into the 100’s! It’s about that hot today too. Man, I get so much hotter when I have to wear a tight collar, tie, and warm long pants. Yesterday I almost died—especially since the place we were teaching didn’t have air conditioning—most probably don’t though. Just small little apartments with poor Mexicans living in them. It was the member’s house where we teach Erasmo. Luckily we/they decided to have dinner out back in the shade of the building. The lesson went well and he understands everything just fine, he just says he isn’t ready to drop everything and do what God asks. He needs that strong confirmation from God so keep him in your prayers.
Julia is doing really well and is super ready for baptism. We still aren’t sure what to do about her guy friend who is married though. I don’t know if he wants to go to the trouble of getting a divorce and getting married. She accepted the word of wisdom really well though—even though she has multiple issues with it. She is determined to change so I think it’ll happen. I’m not sure if she’ll be ready by her date on the 10th, but she has a testimony. Like I said Erasmo probably isn’t going to be ready by this Sunday so we’ll have to set a new date and wait till he’s gotten an answer.
We had another temple tour on Saturday so that was good. Erasmo was the only one that came (of our investigators) just like last time but I liked it. Right before we went down, we ate lunch with Elder Keeler and Gillespie. It was at a Mexican place and I was looking at the menu and saw this appetizer that was a bowl of crickets. It looked really gross. Anyway, when I was ordering I asked for soup and the waitress said it was really small so I was deciding what to do when all of a sudden Elder Keeler finished my order for me. I knew what was coming so when the cheese and cricket quesadilla was put in front of me I wasn’t too surprised. The elders didn’t make me pay for it, but I did end up taking one bite. Tastes like chicken. Lol just kidding. It’s not that yummy, but it didn’t have too strong a taste. I don’t really have a stomach for any more though haha. Especially after I could feel the little hard legs in my mouth. We all tried some, but none of us liked it enough to finish it lol so Elder Keeler and Gillespie took half to a member or something.
That’s crazy about Trevor. I have no idea if he had a girlfriend before his mission. I never heard anything. Not that I knew everything about him though. Thanks for the funny stories about Tereesah. That is SO funny that she uses the word “pretty.” It makes me think of when Julian was here and wanted to know why we use that word. Sounds like she’s making progress towards being potty trained. She’s a smart girl :) There’s this one little girl in our ward—she’s the granddaughter of Obispo Cerda and we were eating dinner with them one night and she was being so silly. She likes Pinocchio and she said “Pinonio has a long nose like Him (in Spanish)” referring to me of course. It was really funny.
Anyway, I love you all. Hope your week goes well!
Love,
Elder Curtis
Monday, April 13, 2009
I’m happy to go where I’m called though so don’t worry.
Hey everyone! I was glad to hear about the new baby. That is so exciting! Thanks for the pictures Stormie! She looks plump and healthy. Sorry to hear about all your homework Rachelle. I guess that’s what happens when you take hard classes lol. They just finished spring break here in California. Hope you guys enjoy it!
This week was super good for me. We now have 4 people with a baptism date! It’s so exciting. We also have some more that have high potential to set a date within the next couple weeks. We are teaching these two people who live with a member in our ward. I probably mentioned them last time, Rigoberto and Michelle. They have a 1 month old. They both said they would work towards the 10th of May to be baptized. The thing is Rigoberto needs to get divorced first to a girl in Mexico then married to Michelle =( So hopefully they will be able to do that soon so they can get married.
The same thing happened with Julia too. We found out the man she is living with, Alvero, is married to someone in Arizona. He’s going on vacation tomorrow so we are hoping and praying he will decide to go to Arizona and get divorced so they can get married so Julia can be baptized. She is really ready though so if that happens she’ll definitely be ready to get baptized.
We got to teach Erasmo twice this week. He’s doing well, but still needs lots of prayers so he can be ready to be baptized on the 26th.
Next week is transfers so send letters to the mission office again this week. I’ll probably stay here with elder Fraga, but you never know for sure. That would be sad if I had to leave and miss the baptisms I’ve been waiting for for two transfers. I’m happy to go where I’m called though so don’t worry.
We’ve stayed pretty busy and things are going fine. I really don’t know what else to say. I forgot to bring the letters so I could respond to them. I promise I won’t forget next time.
We still haven’t been able to meet with Raul’s family, which is sad but hopefully this week. We’re slowly but surly getting the apartment fixed and cleaned. Today is “deep cleaning” p-day so we’ll probably do a bunch more. Anyway, like I said, I’m pretty stuck on what to say so hope you all have a good week.
Once again, thanks for your letters and your love. Have a good week.
Much love from So Cal,
Elder Curtis
This week was super good for me. We now have 4 people with a baptism date! It’s so exciting. We also have some more that have high potential to set a date within the next couple weeks. We are teaching these two people who live with a member in our ward. I probably mentioned them last time, Rigoberto and Michelle. They have a 1 month old. They both said they would work towards the 10th of May to be baptized. The thing is Rigoberto needs to get divorced first to a girl in Mexico then married to Michelle =( So hopefully they will be able to do that soon so they can get married.
The same thing happened with Julia too. We found out the man she is living with, Alvero, is married to someone in Arizona. He’s going on vacation tomorrow so we are hoping and praying he will decide to go to Arizona and get divorced so they can get married so Julia can be baptized. She is really ready though so if that happens she’ll definitely be ready to get baptized.
We got to teach Erasmo twice this week. He’s doing well, but still needs lots of prayers so he can be ready to be baptized on the 26th.
Next week is transfers so send letters to the mission office again this week. I’ll probably stay here with elder Fraga, but you never know for sure. That would be sad if I had to leave and miss the baptisms I’ve been waiting for for two transfers. I’m happy to go where I’m called though so don’t worry.
We’ve stayed pretty busy and things are going fine. I really don’t know what else to say. I forgot to bring the letters so I could respond to them. I promise I won’t forget next time.
We still haven’t been able to meet with Raul’s family, which is sad but hopefully this week. We’re slowly but surly getting the apartment fixed and cleaned. Today is “deep cleaning” p-day so we’ll probably do a bunch more. Anyway, like I said, I’m pretty stuck on what to say so hope you all have a good week.
Once again, thanks for your letters and your love. Have a good week.
Much love from So Cal,
Elder Curtis
Monday, April 6, 2009
I really loved conference. It was so uplifting and full of great advice!
What a week! It’s really been awesome. We’ve gotten a bunch of new people to teach and the ones we are teaching are doing great! Also, I really loved conference. It was so uplifting and full of great advice! Too bad none of our investigators or less actives came. But at least that way we could go watch it in English (they had both in the same church)
I’m excited to be another uncle, or a new uncle or however you would say it…hope all goes well Stormie! Thanks for your description of contractions. I’ve actually always wondered what they’re like.
It seems weird being 20, but I’m not freaked out about it like mom apparently was lol. Life just keeps flying by so I may as well enjoy it.
Good job getting back to your exercises Dad; that takes a lot of motivation—especially when you can’t do as much as you’d like and it is discouraging. I really noticed a lot of emphasis on the temple this conference and it made me think of you. Thanks for you and Mom being a great example of temple attending members!
Keep up the good work Mom of running the family; you do so much for us it truly is amazing. I bet Stormie is really grateful you are going to help her out this week. I laughed for about five minutes about your dreams. Thanks for writing about them, they were so funny and fun the read about!
Ross and Anna, you guys seem pretty busy, but really happy with a new garden and cute little girl. Thanks for all your stories about her and all the information. It makes being an uncle satisfying. Keep up the good work at school and thanks for your example.
Good luck with the new baby Stormie and Jer. I’m excited for you and am glad you are able to have this experience, no matter the outcome. Keep up the good work in school Jer. I really look up to you.
Thanks for your letter Rachelle. Don’t worry about not sending a letter every week. I think I only wrote Ross once or twice on his mission so don’t feel guilty. I know how hard it is—especially with a busy schedule. Keep up the good work in track and great job in your piano festival! Those are hard songs and are ones I’ve always wanted to learn to play. Maybe someday I’ll be like you :-P
Nicole, thanks for your birthday cards! Good job getting $10 for being an awesome piano player! Someday you’ll be as good as me and Rachelle. Did you go to 5th grade camp? How was it? I remember my 6th grade camp. I was there for a whole week and I loved it! Also that’s so cool you went to the temple dedication. I haven’t been to one since I was about your age so I barely remember what it’s like.
Thank all of you for all your prayers for the people we are teaching! I can honestly say I think it’s made a huge difference!
Erasmo is doing okay and still has a baptism date, but needs those prayers to go through with it! Julia is doing good, but pray that she will be able to get married so she can get baptized.
We have an appointment with Raul on Tuesday so pray that they will be open for us to teach! We’ve been trying to meet with them for six or seven weeks and it’s not that they aren’t interested; we just always go over at a bad time for them. We talked on their porch for a long time last night though and they are such a great family!
Pray that Thomas can be able to keep going to church. He’s a single less active. Pray that he can find a good person to marry and that his son will continue to want to be baptized.
We taught this awesome family for the first time last night. It’s Jose and his kids and he’s a referral from an English member. They are solid! Pray that everything will work out with them.
Also we are teaching a new couple who live with a member in our ward. They also have a really high potential! Their names are Rigoberto and Michelle so pray for them too. And keep praying for the Rico family :D
Thanks for everything you guys do! You can focus on the above list this week, I don’t want your prayers to be tedious or forever lasting because of all the people we have to teach :)
It was a really good week though—probably the best this transfer. Thanks for all your letters once again.
My sleeping machine still seems to be helping me. Overall, my health is pretty good, with help from above of course. Just keep praying for me and I’ll be fine!
My companion is hardworking, loving, great attitude, tries his best to be obedient, and has taught me a lot.
Anyway, better go for now. Hope everyone has a good week! Especially those Texans!
Love you all bunches!
Your missionary,
Elder Curtis
I’m excited to be another uncle, or a new uncle or however you would say it…hope all goes well Stormie! Thanks for your description of contractions. I’ve actually always wondered what they’re like.
It seems weird being 20, but I’m not freaked out about it like mom apparently was lol. Life just keeps flying by so I may as well enjoy it.
Good job getting back to your exercises Dad; that takes a lot of motivation—especially when you can’t do as much as you’d like and it is discouraging. I really noticed a lot of emphasis on the temple this conference and it made me think of you. Thanks for you and Mom being a great example of temple attending members!
Keep up the good work Mom of running the family; you do so much for us it truly is amazing. I bet Stormie is really grateful you are going to help her out this week. I laughed for about five minutes about your dreams. Thanks for writing about them, they were so funny and fun the read about!
Ross and Anna, you guys seem pretty busy, but really happy with a new garden and cute little girl. Thanks for all your stories about her and all the information. It makes being an uncle satisfying. Keep up the good work at school and thanks for your example.
Good luck with the new baby Stormie and Jer. I’m excited for you and am glad you are able to have this experience, no matter the outcome. Keep up the good work in school Jer. I really look up to you.
Thanks for your letter Rachelle. Don’t worry about not sending a letter every week. I think I only wrote Ross once or twice on his mission so don’t feel guilty. I know how hard it is—especially with a busy schedule. Keep up the good work in track and great job in your piano festival! Those are hard songs and are ones I’ve always wanted to learn to play. Maybe someday I’ll be like you :-P
Nicole, thanks for your birthday cards! Good job getting $10 for being an awesome piano player! Someday you’ll be as good as me and Rachelle. Did you go to 5th grade camp? How was it? I remember my 6th grade camp. I was there for a whole week and I loved it! Also that’s so cool you went to the temple dedication. I haven’t been to one since I was about your age so I barely remember what it’s like.
Thank all of you for all your prayers for the people we are teaching! I can honestly say I think it’s made a huge difference!
Erasmo is doing okay and still has a baptism date, but needs those prayers to go through with it! Julia is doing good, but pray that she will be able to get married so she can get baptized.
We have an appointment with Raul on Tuesday so pray that they will be open for us to teach! We’ve been trying to meet with them for six or seven weeks and it’s not that they aren’t interested; we just always go over at a bad time for them. We talked on their porch for a long time last night though and they are such a great family!
Pray that Thomas can be able to keep going to church. He’s a single less active. Pray that he can find a good person to marry and that his son will continue to want to be baptized.
We taught this awesome family for the first time last night. It’s Jose and his kids and he’s a referral from an English member. They are solid! Pray that everything will work out with them.
Also we are teaching a new couple who live with a member in our ward. They also have a really high potential! Their names are Rigoberto and Michelle so pray for them too. And keep praying for the Rico family :D
Thanks for everything you guys do! You can focus on the above list this week, I don’t want your prayers to be tedious or forever lasting because of all the people we have to teach :)
It was a really good week though—probably the best this transfer. Thanks for all your letters once again.
My sleeping machine still seems to be helping me. Overall, my health is pretty good, with help from above of course. Just keep praying for me and I’ll be fine!
My companion is hardworking, loving, great attitude, tries his best to be obedient, and has taught me a lot.
Anyway, better go for now. Hope everyone has a good week! Especially those Texans!
Love you all bunches!
Your missionary,
Elder Curtis
Monday, March 30, 2009
I got $7.50 worth of mail in one day!
Yay for birthdays! I don’t remember any birthday that I’ve ever felt this loved before. The 20 letters made me so happy and grateful for having the best family in the world. I got all of them as well as the package--even if you forgot the apartment number :)
My birthday was awesome. We were on exchanges that day (just that day) so I was with Elder Gilespie. He’s an awesome missionary and we had a great day. We went and helped someone move that morning at 7 so we got in some early service the start the day out great. Then they treated us to Carl’s Junior for our help.
We went to a bunch of houses that day as well as knocked a street. For dinner we went to a recent convert’s house for a great dinner and a lesson. The wife was baptized yesterday so we talked about the commitment she was about to make.
My favorite part of the day was when we taught Julia a lesson. We showed up at 8:30 and she had a friend there as well. We taught both of them and the spirit was really strong. We read 2N31 and discussed baptism; then I was prompted to ask her if she’s gotten an answer to her prayers and she said Yes!!!!! She knows this is the true church! It made me so happy.
Elder Gilespie was a great help in the lesson. He’s been out like 9 months I think. Her friend lives by Los Angeles, but said she wanted to learn more about the church and then...they both came to church yesterday! It was so great. It was a good experience to be with someone who isn’t fluent in Spanish, because I had more of a chance to participate in everything--especially since I knew the people and E. Gilespie didn’t.
Anyway, lately I’ve realized how much better my Spanish is. Not only from that day but just lately, I’ve done so much better at understanding and even speaking. I have so much more to learn, but I’m happy to notice the progress I’ve made. At church I was pleased to be able to get into the lesson and understand everything that was taught. I’m excited to get even better :)
We also taught someone we found knocking on Saturday. He let us right in and we taught the Restoration. Tuesday we taught an older guy about 60 named Frank. He was really nice and understood everything just fine. We also were able to teach one of our less actives, Hermano Castro. Thursday we had a great talk with an 18 year old white guy named Kevin. We also talked to a less active English guy named Thomas. He’s in his 20s/early 30’s and we’re some of his only friends. We are also working with this big less active extended family named the Ricos. We enjoy talking to them and we are eating with the sister’s family this week (the sister of the family we usually go to).
Yesterday was really good because Erasmo, his son, Julia and her friend Martha all came to church! After church we had our normal lesson with Erasmo at the Pantoja’s and...we set a baptism date with him! I am so happy for him. It’s just a goal, but we set April 26th as a baptism date for him and he accepted. He didn’t promise he’d be baptized that day, but I’m really excited for him and have great hopes. The only problem is, eventually we’ll have to turn him over to another pair of elders since he lives down in Anaheim, but thanks for your prayers -- they are really helping him! Now, just pray he’ll be able to prepare for that day. Also that we’ll be able to set a date with Julia and get her married (or separated) so she can also be baptized.
It’s so nice to have my GPS now. It was funny because Elder Fraga bought one and he got his the same day I did, lol. So now we are doubly not lost, haha.
We had interviews with President on Wednesday I think and everything is going good. They even got a first aid kit for every missionary in this mission. We have our own, but these ones have things that we could use in like a natural disaster or something. I’m glad the mission is prepared. I’m sure everything will be ok if anything bad happens.
Thanks so much for the labels! I wanted some anyway and now I don’t even have to ask for them :D The first presidency pictures are really nice too :) Thanks for being so thoughtful and sending so much great stuff to me this week. I was kind of confused when I got the first three birthday cards though because Dad said he’d already sent 3 and I only got one that day so I was like huh? Since he sent that one straight here it got here before all the other ones, lol.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I got 17 letters in one day!!!!!!! It was the coolest thing in the world! They just kept coming out of that mailbox, lol. I was laughing so hard. Then the letters really touched me and made me cry so it was quite the day. I got them on Wednesday and the package on Thursday at district meeting. Thanks so much again! Don’t know how to thank you all.
Hope you guys have a good week. Thanks for your prayers--especially for my investigators/less actives. Have a good week! Oh, and we’ve started teaching English lessons so that’s really fun.
Love,
Elder Curtis
My birthday was awesome. We were on exchanges that day (just that day) so I was with Elder Gilespie. He’s an awesome missionary and we had a great day. We went and helped someone move that morning at 7 so we got in some early service the start the day out great. Then they treated us to Carl’s Junior for our help.
We went to a bunch of houses that day as well as knocked a street. For dinner we went to a recent convert’s house for a great dinner and a lesson. The wife was baptized yesterday so we talked about the commitment she was about to make.
My favorite part of the day was when we taught Julia a lesson. We showed up at 8:30 and she had a friend there as well. We taught both of them and the spirit was really strong. We read 2N31 and discussed baptism; then I was prompted to ask her if she’s gotten an answer to her prayers and she said Yes!!!!! She knows this is the true church! It made me so happy.
Elder Gilespie was a great help in the lesson. He’s been out like 9 months I think. Her friend lives by Los Angeles, but said she wanted to learn more about the church and then...they both came to church yesterday! It was so great. It was a good experience to be with someone who isn’t fluent in Spanish, because I had more of a chance to participate in everything--especially since I knew the people and E. Gilespie didn’t.
Anyway, lately I’ve realized how much better my Spanish is. Not only from that day but just lately, I’ve done so much better at understanding and even speaking. I have so much more to learn, but I’m happy to notice the progress I’ve made. At church I was pleased to be able to get into the lesson and understand everything that was taught. I’m excited to get even better :)
We also taught someone we found knocking on Saturday. He let us right in and we taught the Restoration. Tuesday we taught an older guy about 60 named Frank. He was really nice and understood everything just fine. We also were able to teach one of our less actives, Hermano Castro. Thursday we had a great talk with an 18 year old white guy named Kevin. We also talked to a less active English guy named Thomas. He’s in his 20s/early 30’s and we’re some of his only friends. We are also working with this big less active extended family named the Ricos. We enjoy talking to them and we are eating with the sister’s family this week (the sister of the family we usually go to).
Yesterday was really good because Erasmo, his son, Julia and her friend Martha all came to church! After church we had our normal lesson with Erasmo at the Pantoja’s and...we set a baptism date with him! I am so happy for him. It’s just a goal, but we set April 26th as a baptism date for him and he accepted. He didn’t promise he’d be baptized that day, but I’m really excited for him and have great hopes. The only problem is, eventually we’ll have to turn him over to another pair of elders since he lives down in Anaheim, but thanks for your prayers -- they are really helping him! Now, just pray he’ll be able to prepare for that day. Also that we’ll be able to set a date with Julia and get her married (or separated) so she can also be baptized.
It’s so nice to have my GPS now. It was funny because Elder Fraga bought one and he got his the same day I did, lol. So now we are doubly not lost, haha.
We had interviews with President on Wednesday I think and everything is going good. They even got a first aid kit for every missionary in this mission. We have our own, but these ones have things that we could use in like a natural disaster or something. I’m glad the mission is prepared. I’m sure everything will be ok if anything bad happens.
Thanks so much for the labels! I wanted some anyway and now I don’t even have to ask for them :D The first presidency pictures are really nice too :) Thanks for being so thoughtful and sending so much great stuff to me this week. I was kind of confused when I got the first three birthday cards though because Dad said he’d already sent 3 and I only got one that day so I was like huh? Since he sent that one straight here it got here before all the other ones, lol.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I got 17 letters in one day!!!!!!! It was the coolest thing in the world! They just kept coming out of that mailbox, lol. I was laughing so hard. Then the letters really touched me and made me cry so it was quite the day. I got them on Wednesday and the package on Thursday at district meeting. Thanks so much again! Don’t know how to thank you all.
Hope you guys have a good week. Thanks for your prayers--especially for my investigators/less actives. Have a good week! Oh, and we’ve started teaching English lessons so that’s really fun.
Love,
Elder Curtis
Monday, March 23, 2009
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
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 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
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