September 24, 2012

i dont know where september went. its crazy right?

this will be short cause nothing really happened this week. 

oh except we ran into our drunk less active this week. i just wanted to cry. i have never really been around drunk people except for my mission. Ha. i am innocent. but her poor kids had to babysit her and ugh. so annoying. alcohol is the worst. people dont understand they can have a great life and have fun with out alcohol. its one of the tools satan uses to destroy people and family. i hate it. 

oh and we were stuck with a married couple who were fighting back and forth and me and my comp just sat there stunned. my comp goes "well i think we should pray" haha then i prayed in english begging Heavenly Father to help these two people. I prayed in english so they couldn't understand me. he he. i will never be a marriage counselor in my whole life.

we had temple tour (where we take out investigators to the temple grounds and give them tours) and it was so great. i am so blessed in my mission because each temple tour you see your old members/investigators/less actives at temple tour!!! so i saw so many people from cogeo. and guess what? I COULD UNDERSTAND THEM! they all were telling me they were so happy for me that i can speak tagalog now! yay! it was the first temple tour where i actually understood all the missionaries and their jokes and stuff. anyone proud of me? i still am no where near fluent but its coming people! unti-unti! 

this week will be fun. i am excited. we are going through the temple with the old man that is a ward missionary. Tatay Anselmo. He is 80 years old and is completely loosing it. but i love him! I have so many funny videos of him on my camera i will show you all one day. you will love him. I dont think he will ever die. people, he works with us all day every day. he has a p-day too. mondays. he is awesome! that's on wednesday, i am so excited!! 

i got the best package earlier from parker. and the best letters from all of you!! i loved opening the letter from my mom and money dropping out. ha ha its been a while since i have seen american money. i hope elder curtis is doing well in the mtc and bryce and abby feel better!! i love you all so much and love my mission. i love this gospel so much. everyday i realize more and more the plan my Heavenly Father has for me. i am grateful for my strong family that i have had my whole life and for their support. i am so happy in my life. even though my birthday is in two months and i will 22 and that is SO OLD!!!!!!! uh.

love you all,

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Pictures From the Mission!

 Shelby loved this cute cupcake girl; oh, by the way, Shelby loves cupcakes too!

 Their milk comes in a box and is not cold!

 A senior couple from America made their district pancakes! Shelby looks pretty happy about it!

 The rice fields of the Philippines!

 Shelby wants to bring them all home with her!

 Shelby LOVES the Philippine children!

 Just a normal Philippine neighborhood.

 Outside the temple; Shelby's favorite place to be!

 Stuck in the rain!

 Shelby inside the temple with a recent convert.

 Whenever there's an air conditioner, Shelby sticks her head in it!

 There's no stopping Sister Curtis! She'll try to convert anyone!

Shelby made everyone cookies!

I Love to See the Temple!

Sorry so late, the ap's came to our district meeting and after games we all went and ate! so fun.

this week was hard. like lately i have just been exhausted so this week i need to re focus myself for the work. its hard when my companion asks me trunky questions all day every day it makes me trunky! haha 

so the highlight of this week was we got to go through the temple with one of my companion's old recent converts. it has been a year so she was able to go through and we got invited! we were so excited to get on a jeepney and have an adventure going to the city. two white girls making our way through the city. good thing i know Tagalog or it would of been impossible. but it was great!! it's amazing, because that is why i am here, to get people to make covenants. first baptism, then going to the temple. i love it! i saw an old family from my old area Cogeo, that was getting SEALED! so amazing! so happy Heavenly Father made those two on the same day so i could see them. I wasn't too close with them, but still excited!! AND GUESS WHAT? i saw my old companion sister Segovia the one i just had at the temple. she was just doing a sessions (i week after she went home ha ha she misses missionary life) and it was so good to see her. i had like tears in my eyes we were so excited to see each other. she didn't have a name tag.i never want that to be me! ill send the pic

THENNNNNNN, on the way home, we got off in a city before my area to eat dinner and got stuck in that city for 3 HOURS!!!! i sat in the rain, hollering down jeepneys (like they do in new york ha) for 3 hours and each time i looked back at my companion she was talking to a different person each time about the Gospel. HA! (if my dad knew i was in the Philippines late at night outside of a bar talking to random people-he would die ;) ) but the thing is, people are so nice here. and we are protected. we were about to call the ap's to come get us when our nice district leader calls and i am like basically crying to him and then the senior couples came and got us! but it was a good night!! 

we have a new investigator La Arnie. Her husband is abroad in China working, so they only see each other two weeks a year!! that is how EVERYONE here is. So Abby, count your blessings. But her husband is a member and active there and she said she wasn't ready for the gospel but now is. she is amazing. we showed her the Joseph smith movie and i think because she is so amazing Satan did not want our visit to go well. we had so many distractions, and then on top of everything my DVD was scratched! but at the end we both just bore short and powerful testimonies of Joseph Smith and the spirit came back in. i love her! she has a little girl and i just play with her each time we visit. 

we have a baptism next week. Ellen, she is 19 and is sooo smart. We had to move her baptism date due to some coffee word of wisdom problems, but in relief society she bore her testimony about how being off coffee has helped grow her testimony and come closer to Jesus. Amazing right? 

i hope everyone is doing great. i got so many emails one day i will write all of you. mom sent me some of her spiritual experiences, i loved that! i love hearing about them. the new temple is so beautiful in Brigham city!! i want to go there! Bryce looked so cute at homecoming.you are too cute bryceeman! your date is gorgeous! is she blind? JOKE! love you all. cool new car dad ;)

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Wake Me Up When September Ends!

hello family i love you guys so much.

i had a really good week. me and my companion are doing good. she is a goofball but fun. we just laugh every day. we are kind of Dora the explorer each day too cause this area is big and hard but its all good.

 i got my first migraine on Wednesday. i didn't feel too good when i woke up but kept going and we got into a lesson and came out side and the light killed my head but i was fine. then within like twenty minutes my comp was like "you don't feel good do you" so she did the lesson and then on the tricycle ride home i just cried cause that's what us Curtis girls do when we are sick. we cry. ha then i slept from 3 to 8. and getting little headaches now, but its okay!! ibuprofen is my best friend. ha 

happy birthday to the cutest little 3 year old Olivea! i miss you so much Livy and cant believe you are 3!!!! i remember the day you were born. the longest day of my life. who cares about Abby like basically dying for ever and giving birth, that day took forever. butttttt now we have the cutest little girl!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! can't wait for your new little sister who is coming soon! congrats abb! just kidding. i wish. 

i feel like my mind is blank. what else happened?

really excited for general conference. i think every missionary just loves gen. conference on their mission. we are getting our investigators and less actives ready for it and it makes me excited. being in the presence of an apostle a couple of weeks ago i really have a testimony that we have the right authority on the earth today, and we have the truth, and the true church. i love being able to tell that to people and share my testimony. i love becoming closer to my Heavenly Father and developing a strong relationship with the spirit. this has been such a blessing in my life. i love the Philippine's and these people! i hope every one can have missionary experiences in their lives. love you all.

send some of the fall breeze here! we need it! like i cant imagine how you guys don't sweat all day..that blows my mind. honestly. 

xoxo

Sister Curtis 

p.s. i love the quote elder Brevard shared about faith. elder Bednar talked about faith and how we must be agents not objects. we must act on our faith and become agents of faith. he talked about how Joseph smith acted on his faith when he went to the grove to pray. Joseph smith not only asked "what church is true" but "what is to be done"  i love that.

Elder Bednar, 2 American's & Krispy Kremes

Sorry i am a day late. We had temple p-day today. guess what time i woke up? 3:15 AM! that is not a joke. i fell asleep in the temple and the sister next to me had to wake me up, then she fell asleep and i had to wake her up. horrible. my whole zone made fun of me that i fell asleep..DUHHHH if they didn't make me get up so stinking early i wouldn't have! haha

 

i may fall asleep when as i write this. oh wait i can't cause 1,000 philippino 12 year olds are blasting music in this tiny computer shop playing computer games. sweet. 

so guess what? Elder Bednar came to our mission. I was second row. He was amazing. It was like a workshop. He looks old though, but definitely my favorite apostle. One day when i come home i will tell you all about it. But one thing he said was (as we had an open question and answer session with him) "the most important thing i did to prepare to become one of Jesus Christ's Apostles was getting married and creating a happy marriage" he said you have to create a happy marriage and it doesn't just come with getting married. Then he said, "now no one get trunky" ha so awesome. He is AWESOME! 

I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Cope. From MARYLAND. She is American. I knew I was getting an American. So, i have a lot of responsibility leading this area, getting my Tagalog and dealing with an American. She is great and a hard worker. But I WANT A PHILIPPINA! I don't like American's. Ha. It is a hard adjustment. Oh well. sister Curtis change your attitude.

We just got back from MEGAL MALL. I kind of have the biggest head ache ever. it is the most hugest mall i have ever been in. And i think i might have spent all my money. ha! BUTTTT I got krispy kremes! yummmmmy! my companion got a crepe. Good thing she likes food as much as me! 

TRANSFER DAY! So every transfer day we have the exiting missionaries (the missionaries who go home in six weeks) bear their testimonies of their mission. Remember my old companion sister Dela Calsda? She is going home Oct 11 and so she bore her testimony. Well, she got up and spoke a lot about all the great things she learned on her mission..then she got all teary eyed and went silent and talked about ME! WHAT THE!!!!!! She was like, "last transfer i was with sister Curtis and she taught me so much and i am so grateful for her" stuff like that. She was crying. EVERYONE LOOKED AT ME! It was so embarrassing. in front of the whole mission. Ha but how sweet?? SO happy she doesn't hate me! I was like grabbing sister Weller's hand squeezing it because i was hoping she wouldn't say "i hated her blah blah blah" ha! so cute right? I went up to her after and gave her a big hug! so cute. 

people listen! 5 people in my zone got transferred to MINDORO!!!! the island in our mission where they don't even have running water i guess. Sister Weller went to Mindoro! her face when they called her was so shocked!! then a couple others. Everyone who is in this zone Morong, has either gone to Mindoro or went there last week. I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE!! i tell president Delamare every time i see him, "president i will die in Mindoro please don't send me there" and he tells me its up to God. I will DIEEEEEEEEE. pray i don't get called their! pray hard!

sorry these are so long. my life is just really exciting and cool right now ya know? i love missionary work so much. i can say it now...I LOVE MY MISSION. it only took 7 months for me to say that. Bryce read that. it took 7 months to love it. but its possible! we are working a lot with the "upper and middle classes" and not so much the really really poor people in the Philippine's so we can get some good leadership in the Philippines and help establish the church. does that make sense? but its hard cause rich people don't let you in. people with dirt floors and no money will let you in! SO WE ARE TRACTING!! guys. i hate tracting. so scary. Parker how do you do that everyday? its so hard, but its great! keep the faith.

i love you all and can't wait to see you soon. cause its Christmas. well at least in the Philippines. Christmas starts in September. we sing Christmas hymns already. duh. who cares i love it! love you all more though.

xoxo

sister Curtis