Scary Experience

Hello,

i am emailing you all so late. but there is a reason. a couple of days ago one of my roommates had a crazy experience with satan with her less active member. we all were really scared about it and earlier after district meeting, the zone leaders and us sisters went to this house to cast out all the bad spirits. people, i did not believe in this stuff before and thought these people were crazy. i can't really talk much about it but it was honestly the craziest experience i have ever been apart of. we are all shaking and stunned still. everything is fine now, but the adversary is real. i didn't believe in it but i do now. but i believe ten times more in the power of the priesthood. if i have any advice to the men in my life it is so always be worthy. if these awesome zone leaders were not worthy we couldn't have just had a miracle. one day i will tell you all about it. i am honestly so grateful for the priesthood in my life and the true church.

anyway, so this week was great. another great week! loving my new companion, and roommates so much. i live with an american and all we do is laugh. I am remembering things that are funny in english and how funny I AM! ha ha its the best. bryce i explained to her about coach whats his name, the youtube and how we would laugh so hard all the time at those and we laughed for so long as i was explaining him and the way he kicks his leg! haha

so in a lesson i was explaining the gospel of jesus christ of course in tagalog and instead of saying, after baptism we recieve the gift of the holy ghost, i said we recieve the gift of tongues. hmmm think i have prayed for that gift like EVERY SINGLE DAY! haha so funny. they are kind of the same right?

I had a "i want to be a missionary forever experience". one night we went to our last appointment Joann and she is a member, active but her husband isn't. she always wants the missionaries over cause she loves the spirit they have, but her husband is always gone so they haven't been there for a while. so something just told us to go there. so we knock on her door and she started bawling. she said literally, 5 seconds before we knocked (well you don't knock on people's door here, you said people! really loud haha) she was so depressed and said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father if He loved her, and if He did then why don't the missionaries come? Isn't that cool. I love helping people so much!

so my new area is the most peaceful place. i thought i would be in the city my whole mission but i see like RICE FIELDS and mountains and beautiful green land all day its amazing!!

we had district conference yesterday & saturday our area is only a branch and district so anyway, pres & sis delamare came my mission president and it was so great to be with them for 2 days and here them talk! those people are so great and spiritual and even though they speak in english everyone in the room receives the gift of tongues and can understand. honestly, its so cool how fast and strong they can bring the spirit in.

yesterday i taught a lesson, and prayed so hard for the gift of tongues and i UNDERSTOOD everything!! i walked out of it and was like..WAIT! i could understand! hahaha i told my companion and she said that she could tell i understood! YES! we are moving along people-we are  making some progress!

i love all of you! sorry my life is busy and i have no time ever. sorry i am such a hardworker and all we do is work. haha sorry im so humble. our district leader sends us texts every day and tells us how amazing we are cause we are all working so hard, its a great feeling!!

love you all!!
Sister Curtis

second area

hello po!
this has to be fast.
love my new companion, she is so hard working and fun. she actually talks to me and laughs not like my old comp. she is going home in 6 weeks so then i will get a new comp AGAIN and lead the area. pray for me. i will have 5 comps in 5 transfers i told myself i wanted a new comp every transfer and its worked! my new area is boon docks. as in nothing but mud, mountains, bugs, and rain. its cold here! like i am COLD!!!! its probably like 90 but its freezing. i love it! i wake up every night shaking! our area is the farthest away from the mission home. to go to zone interviews we have to wake up at 3 and leave at 4! its only 30 miles, HA but so much traffic! crazy righttt???

our new area is just a district and branch..so small. the people are great. i am realizing every where you go the work is the same, and the people are the greatest! i love missionary work. my comp doesnt really speak english that well, and really wants to learn so we are helping each other. she is so warm and makes me feel so good! she is so happy all the time so its great!

love my roommates. yay an american! ALL we talk about is food. we just cry about how we cant go to olive garden and cheesecake factory and have to eat rice each day. i am eating a lot better. the wall with rice is comping down slowly. they cook good food!

today we are going to the mall in the big city! i hear their is a krispy kreme's so i am going to bring some home for my roommates!! hopefully eat some good food at the mall.

i absolutely love my new zone! a lot of americans and they are all my batch going home.

this week we have temple tour and our zone is hosting so we are the tour guides, my comp wanted to be the tour guide of the "celestrial marriage" part. Haha so fun! i am excited.

i can't remember really anything else, my mind is so crazy right now cause i am trying to hurry everything! i love you all so much! next week will be better!

i love my mission and these experiences i am having. i am realizing more and more of the atonement of jesus christ and how much we need it. i am so grateful for the atonement and through it we can all return to our heavenly father!

alam ko po na yung pagpapayad-sala ni jesus christ ay totoo at sa pamamagitan ng pagpapapyad-sala puwede po tayo makapagbalik sa ating ama sa langit! love you all!!
xoxo
sister curtis

I'm getting transfered​..

I am GETTING TRANSFERED!! AHHHH
Today in district meeting, our zone leaders told us and I am shocked. Honestly, I didn't think it would happen but its all good! I am excited to see the mission. I hear once you are out of your first area it gets easier. Let's hope so. OH MY GOSH I can't believe it. Tomorrow at 530 am we are all leaving to head to the chapel for transfer day. its crazy. i have to pack uhhhhh. anyway, it will be cool! 4 companions in 4 transfers.
this email will be short cause i will email on monday. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAL!!!! I love you!!! I hope your husband spends a lot of money on you :)
So everything has been really good lately. It was my comp's birthday yesterday so we celebrated and had a ward FHE in the mountain of our area. SO FUN! Philippino people are so fun. 
BIG NEWS: On tuesday, i boiled water for the first time for my shower!!!! I CRIED IN THE SHOWER CAUSE IT FELT SO NICE AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH
seriously. i told my kabahay's "i loved that, as tears are running down my face" i think it made me superrrr homesick. I kind of cant believe my whole life I have had hot showers.
Cute story. I hope parker doesn't get mad at me for saying this. So ever since I have met parker he always would blink really hard at me. He told me his dad used to do that to his mom and it means "i love you" so parker constantly does it. I love it. So one day we were at a cute newlywed's house for dinner and i blinked really hard at her for something i can't remember and i told her it means i love you. Well last night at our FHE she told me her and her husband do that now. They go to the temple every week (because they are trying to have babies and go to the temple for blessings ;)) and during the temple they will look at each other and blink and say i love you. HOW CUTE? They just got married in May and i love them! SO Cute right?? Parker don't get mad at me for spreading that tradition!
thats it i will email monday! LOVE YOU!!
xoxo
Sister Curtis

happy 6 months to me

its come. the first 6 months. i kind of can't believe it and i will stop counting after tomorrow but i am so excited! and happy year mark to parkerman. kind of can't believe he has been out for a year!! sheesh. its all so exciting. i'm so excited that i am going to treat myself to pizza. well mom and dad you are ;) congrats on my dad's new calling in a byu ward so awesome! so scary about the fires..please be safe. i have gotten all the wonderful emails with so much love and support thank you so much everyone! i love all of you.
so this week was really good. this month i am focusing a lot and it helps! so i want everyone to know how happy i am. honestly, last night i was laying in my bed and tears ran down my face as i was thinking about all the great people i get to serve each day. i am so happy as a missionary. even though it is so hard, its so happy.
so okay this is the cutest story ever: one day me and my comp were talking to a member on the street that we saw and these two cute little girls who were in cute little uniforms came up to me and started talking to me. it was so cute! they are the cutest girls ever! they asked me about america and my name and all that stuff and then one girl asked me in tagalog, "before we go can we give you a kiss?" umm SO CUTE RIGHT? pretty sure that is illegal in america for missionaries but not in the philippines. they gave me a kiss on my cheek. ever since that day i have been praying for those girls i don't know why i just love them. then me and my comp were walking down the street and i hear "atay atay..atay sister" atay is older sister in tagalog and i look and it was THOSE girls riding on the back of a tricycle waving so hard. i was sooo excited!! i love them. anyway so cute right?
just barely, we went to the temple. so great. me and my comp are now at the mall but on the way here we rode in a taxi and my comp rode in the front seat and she is so cute and talking to the driver about how families can be together for ever and our purpose and i am singing my guts out in the back because i love music and i was like, no one can see me sing its ok. oh my gosh. i am the worsttttttt. but my comp is the best.
next week is transfers. the 19. i'm so scared cause i think i may get transfered. but i would love to stay with my comp for one more transfer and in this area. even though i climb a mountain everyday and i want to cry!!!! but i am so scared to get transfered! anyway, love you all so much. as in, like so much i love you. i miss you too. be safe and have a good summer!!
xoxo
sister curtis

I'm proud to be an American

happy 4th of july!

this was another hard week. monday after i emailed and got out all my frustrations ha ha we went to a FHE with a family that i just love. Both of the parents are RM's and we had a lesson, played games and then ate. Before we left, they both bore their testimonies of how their mission shaped their lives and how grateful they were for it to prepare them for their next mission. life. They asked me to bear my testimony about my mission and i just poured out my testimony of this great experience. Even though I was struggling so bad that day, Heavenly Father needed to let me see the blessings in my life. So i bore my testimony of my mission. Since that day, everyday i've born my testimony of my mission. Either someone asked me to, or that was the topic of the lesson. Isn't that cool? Heavenly Father knew I needed to count my blessings. I have really come to know that Heavenly Father knows us individually and knows us way better than we know ourselves. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He's my best friend on my mission.

A couple of days ago, we went to a Recent Converts house. She was baptized in April and I just love her. I honestly think I came to the Philippines for her. She was struggling so bad that day so we went inside and she just cried to her. She has a hard home life and she is living with her aunt and her family arent members. She is 19 and has no job, school or money. I just sat on the ground with her holding her and just cried with her. I told her we are her sisters and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew she was struggling and sent us to her. I just rubbed her hair and scratched her back while she cried like my mom would do to me! I hate how these people i love struggle so bad and I cant do anything. That night I forgot all about my problems and realized I needed to be more grateful. Its cool when you think you are having it hard, then you focus on other people and your struggles become less serious. I love that about missionary work.

Another sad story, one of my favorite less active's Pam, her baby who is only 4 months is so sick. and getting medical help is sooo expensive. well because our area split into 2 she is in my old area, and one day my comp was sick and i did not want to sleep all day so i went on exchanges and worked in that area. I loved it! we went to Pam and she just cried to us about all the trials in her life. I just cried with her and knew i was there for a reason. see, again Heavenly Father is trying to make me count my blessings. I cant even imagine the kind of stress she is under with no money, a baby sick, and her husband is away at work for months at a time. she has no one. We taught her that Heavenly Father is mindful of her and He loves her. I taught the lesson in english cause she can understand hallelujah. But i just feel so bad for her. These people here are so strong though with all their problems.  

have a good week everyone. next week i will be in the temple, I am SO excited. I love love love the temple. I kind of cant believe i have driven past a temple all my life everyday and never really noticed how lucky i was! We are so blessed to live in utah!

take care,
sister curtis