1 year? What the..

Where did the last year go? Honestly, i didn't remember until my parents emails said it. Haha! happy 1 year to me.

 

So I am training. Oh my gosh, its so exhausting. Oh and remember how i have two wards? Thank you Spirit. Honestly, it has been so smooth i only went on splits twice in this new area last transfer and i remember all of it! It's definately the Spirit. exept this one time i thought for sure i knew where i was going. we go into this house and i ask if we can come in and share and they all gave me weird looks. but i didnt think anything of it cause hello, one white girl, pakistan, and filippina. so then i am like being my crazy self and asking them who are members. turns out we got the wrong house! HA! i dieddddd laughing. the kind of dying when you are trying not to laugh so you just start crying instead ya know? kallie knows what i am talking about. but thats just how nice filippino's are. they just let you inside even if they dont know you. so hilarious.

 

I am so tired, oh my goodness. Elder Brevard, how did you do this 3 times???

i am in a tri-some. one from pakistan and my trainee is sister quinco. so cute. her boyfriend is serving in Utah so she is practically American. Ha. I told her i am going to go home and visit him for her. she was a little homesick the first couple of nights. I honestly, don't remember how hard it is at the beginning. i know i struggled but can't remember. i only remember fun times. but anyways she is great!!

we had a really great experience. in our branch, we have 15 names. they are our focus family names. they are all in active families that we want to rescue. well, our branch president put this family on the list after praying about it. i was kind of annoyed because they hate missionaries and are super inactive. last night, it was like 8:30 and we had time for 1 last appointment. I am trying to work my trainee really hard so she will get focused in the work! ha but i had the impression to go to this family on our list. When we got there i just tried to be my crazy self and not talk about church too much. well, they invited us in and we shared. the women completely opened up to us about why she is inactive, why she stopped going to church, etc. After she was baptized the ward just completely forgot about her. We thanked her for being so open to us and just testified. It was the coolest experience. At the end of our lesson, she told us "the day will come when i will come back to church and it will be soon." I just looked at her family and told her so many blessings are waiting for them if they come back unto Jesus Christ. I told her I am not going anywhere and we are going to help her come back. THEN SHE INVITED US BACK TO HER HOUSE! Cool right? I know. I loved it.

i just laugh every single minute of the day. my new companions are hilarious. my one companion is from pakistan and her english/tagalog is hilarious. she tells me about her country and everything is illegal. its illegal for men to do dishes. whhhaattt the?? she tells me "ya, its ugly there in pakistan" haha so funny.

my headaches have been a lot better. yesterday when we were going home i told my comp "wait i haven't had one headache all day!" i think i am too busy to think about myself. ha ha which is a good thing.

 

that's all i can think of today, love you a lot!

xoxo

Sister Curtis

2013 & Pregnant

Kallie isn't the only one pregnant!! I am, haha i am getting a little sister curtis jr. next transfer!! :)

everyone in my zone keeps calling me nanay which means mother! haha so funny.

the ap's called me and told me i will be training next transfer. i kind of wanted to die when they told me that. especially now that i have 2 areas. but it's fine. we'll see what happens! Surprisingly i am not too stressed out. i just pray my headaches go away.

 

the coolest thing was i had to go to trainer's meeting on monday morning BY MY SELF!!!! So scary. I could have taken a taxi all the way there and done it like an American would of, but i did the scary way and took jeepney's all by myself! It was so scary & I hated being a lone!! But i made it safe no worries :) sister aoina is training too! Yay!

 

new year's eve was the craziest day of my life. our curfew was 6 pm. remember how nothing in the philippine's is illegal? yeah so imagine world war 2 outside but ten times crazier. we went to sleep at 1030 cause we were exhausted and woke up at ten minutes til 12 and i honestly was worried i was going to die. i felt like the japanese came and were bombing the philippine's. so me and my comp got up and and said "yay happy new year" to each other with our eyes barely open and then went back to sleep. we have no idea how we fell back asleep. ha ha so funny. then yesterday was january 1 and we just did a lot of member visits and ate! also we had a family home evening that was so great. i'll attach pics.

we had a really cool lesson with one of our new investigators kim. she is amazing and will serve a mission. we played the joseph smith dvd for her and then me and my companion bore small powerful testimonies to her. i just bawled when i looked at her and was talking about joseph smith. she is only 21 years old and so cute! the spirit was so strong. we played it in english for her because she didnt have a remote to change languages and its the first time i have seen it in english for a while and i just felt the spirit so strong. we asked her how she felt after the lesson and she said, "happy and peace" i loved that! please pray for her.

 

tonight because my comp is getting transfered we are going over to our branch president's house for dinner. the Del Val's where i skyped. i am so excited she has the best food!! i love them. i am so sad to say goodbye to my companion. she is the best. and not to mention, she is gluten and dairy free so everytime we get dessert or yummy food she can't eat, she gives it to me! :) my next comp probably won't do that, dang it. oh well maybe i will loose some weight. haha the elder's tell me if i loose any weight i'll look really ugly. but hey i worked out yesterday! of course, that is my new year's resolution. haha oh and get married ;) just kidding.

i love you all, happy new year!! i hope everyone has a wonderful new year's day and year!! I can't believe i will see my family this year. it's crazy. LOVE YOU!

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Maligayang Pasko!

Merry Christmas Family,

 

BEST PRESENT EVER WAS SEEING YOU ALL!! Oh how I miss you!! Well family, you are all beautiful! Sheesh. It was hard to say goodbye, but then my comp skyped and it was good to meet her cute family. Her mom was taking notes! so cute right? Haha!! I was laughing so hard. What a good Christmas on my mission, honestly.

After we skyped we ATE! That's it. Our first appoint was all seafood. I actually like seafood now crazy right? I am so happy. It's really yummy here. Then, we ate soup with chicken feet in it. i will attach the picture. Then a dessert that is rice ha ha and then a feast at our last appointment. I am STILL full. ugh. So fun. We had to go in 7:30 pm because there are so many drunk people on Christmas so then me and my comp made a music video to David Archuleta. Best thing of my life.

Christmas was so great! Thank you family for everything. I wish everyone could see the huge smile i have on my face right now as my mom and lori are emailing me about Parker! haha that kid is the best!

i love you all, merry christmas enjoy your break!!

xoxo

sister curtis

CTR- Cook the Rice

Merry Christmas Family,

it is just barely starting to feel like Christmas here in the Philippines, because we just got snow! Just kidding. I wish.

This past week was so hard. We worked maybe a total of 4 hours due to my migraines, i had orders to rest. AND all i have been eating is salad cause my companion is a health freak and she put me on a cleanse. Ha i am skinny now :) no rice. i actually miss rice. i CRAVE rice! Funny right??? So me and my comp kind of went crazy sitting in our house all week, but it was fine! Thank you David Archuleta's Christmas CD! haha. but we are still alive.

yesterday, we had church and after the ysa and youth combined are preparing a musical number for next weeks sacrament meeting. two songs. well, my comp because she is so great, is the pianist so i just sit there and listen to these poor kids try and sing. well, their chorister will be out of town next week so they needed a new chorister. they all picked me. remember how i can't sing? but remember how my mom is Karen Curtis and she is like the best chorister ever? like mother like daughter. so pretty much me and my companion kept yelling at them and cheering them on and jumping up and down and going crazy. they sound SO much better :) then of course i put them into a good formation and told them, "always remember kids, if everything else fails we all still have our looks" they liked that! haha so funny.

after church we went to the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. SO good. Did anyone go to that last week? Or watch it? It was great!! I loved all three of our Prophets messages. About being good gift receivers, sharing the gift of the gospel, the spirit of Christmas, families, the Savior. I loved what President Monson said how we all get so "distracted" in this season with buying gifts, activities etc. But we should be the opposite. We should be focused on the Savior and His gift to all of us. I am so grateful for His wonderful gift to me. I love this time of year especially as a missionary, I get to share about Jesus Christ and all that He did for us.

We taught an English class for the first time, that was the hardest thing ever. English is the hardest language ever! I taught English in a different language. Cool right? but hopefully we can get more investigators from it and help these cute filippino's learn English and get them out of poverty! if they know English their chances of getting out of poverty are way higher. that's my goal. ha

I hope everyone remembers in their busy season Jesus Christ and His perfect gift to us! Enjoy the beautiful snow while I enjoy palm trees and coconuts :) I love you all!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I have been saying that all day everyday. My comp keeps saying, "hey sister curtis, when is your birthday again?" Haha! I am SO EXCITED! Why? Because it is the only birthday in the Philippines, on my mission, in Asia, 22, as a missionary, etc. PLUS! Philippino's LOOOOVVVEEEE birthdays. As in, anytime of the year, every appointment they ask, "when is your birthday?" so finally i can say THIS WEEK! we have appointments like everyday. super excited. my waist line isn't but i am! haha

 

i got the best package from my mom! thanks mom for the jump rope, starting january i will start working out! haha i will bake the cake this week! i have to go somewhere to cook it, we had to think really hard somewhere and someone who had an oven. crazy right? we don't have ovens. but there is a way! at the richest member's house!

so we were at this less active's house and i asked the 24 year old boy where my birthday present was and he said "what do you want? a date? okay let's go on a date!" HAHA! he was dead serious. I was shocked. My companion was like.."uhh awkward because I would have to go with you." Then he was like, "ok ok both of you" WEEEEIRRRD. We are missionaries. Hellllo. But so funny. That's definately a first time I have been asked out on a date on my mission.

TRansfer day was maybe the best day of my life. I saw so many of all my mission friends! There are alot of new missionaries that came into our mission. I have been waiting for this transfer MY WHOLE MISSION! DECEMBER!!! I am soooo excited!! We have activities every single weeeeeek! I am so excited. Every day I tell my comp how excited i am. its so weird though I feel like there should be snow, but it's so hot every day still!

our new zone leaders bought me two cakes for my birthday for my zone!! so nice of them. then my zone sang me happy birthday like a million times. see, philippino's loveeee birthdays. our zone has 8 sisters. i repeat. 8!!! our opening song in district meeting was "as sisters in zion" so funny. I love my area still even though its SO HARD!! I really am trying to enjoy this transfer because I think i will train next transfer...nooooo. i don't waaaannnntttt to!!

 

I am so grateful for this mission! I am so grateful for the Philippines. It's such a wonderful place to serve!! I hope everyone has a happy last week of November, think of me on December 1st. Haha! ;)

 

love you all,

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Happy Thanksgiving from the Philippines

Hello!!

 

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, so I almost forgot we had it until all my emails said, happy thanksgiving! haha

CONGRATS TO MY SISTER AND BROTHER IN LAW KALLIE AND DAN AND THEIR NEW BUN IN THE OVEN!!!! i just know it will be a girl ;) i can't wait!!!! best news EVER!!!

 

wow. it honestly feels like it has been years since i have emailed all of you-maybe cause it has.

 

well i don't even know where to start first off, i am not transfering and either is my comp! yay, my first companion more than 1 transfer! i am not a troubled companion. We will still go to transfer day though because she is the musical number. i am SO nervous because hello i am the PAGE TURNER! i think i am more nervous than her. ha ha

 

i went to manilla out of my mission to go to st. luke's for my doctor appointments so that was cool and the highlight of my week and now i am on bedrest and am kind of going crazy. she got a bite on her leg and all the members told her its from a cockroach. listen to this, her whole ankle is bruised and swollen. its from a little tiny cock roach and its causing her so much pain!!! poor girl. i went to the bathroom last night and there were some in our bathroom. i tried so hard to kill them but they ran away. (yes i actually kill bugs now and not run away, proud of me?) so we are the poor companionship :( but me and my comp are having fun still! i love her!

 

we were so in "the world" the last week from in and out of the city and being in so much air conditioning and seeing so many white people and not working it was hard to re focus. we hated it! i just wanted so badly to go back to my little apartment and go work and serve my members and investigators. i love my calling so much as a missionary and kind of never want to be back in the real world! ;)

it was our branch president's birthday on sunday so we got invited over for dinner and he and his wife are suppper Americanized and super young. he speaks perfect english. so we told him since he is practically american we told where we are from if its your birthday you usually stand on the table and dance and people give you money. haha is that inappropriate? haha everyone just laughed at us.

our mission has moved to more finding. so we have been focusing more on tracting!! its so hard. but i love it. i love telling people i represent Jesus Christ. I know i won't be doing this for very long and know its such a wonderful calling. i hope everyone can find and help the Lord. i tell the members you don't need a name tag to be a missionary ;) always remember that.

i love you all. remember if its your birthday, get up on a table and dance. just kidding.

xoxo,

Sister Curtis

Happy Halloween From the Philippines!

Hello everyone,

we just had a halloween party in our district meeting, super fun.

 

things are going great here. me and my companion are having so much fun, all we do is laugh. we will be friends forever! i told her i will come to her homecoming and her wedding shower and baby shower ;) so yep. friends forever.

 

its super hot here. i hear its snowing there, i cant even believe that. suppper happy i am not in utah and its snowing! i would rather be here in the sun.

 

we met some really cool people they are our "barcada" that means like peeps, homies, or group of friends haha and they are kind of so cool. but living in sin. they are two couples all living together but one is less active and the other are really interested. well, we have been teaching them and last night we went over there to just say hi cause the less active CAME TO CHURCH! we were stunned. he hasnt come to church in yearrrrs people. well we ate dinner over there and laughed for like an hour straight. they just laugh at our tagalog. i am pretty sure if we were fluent in our tagalog we wouldn't be funny. but sad news is they are moving and so that was our last visit with our homies. my comp is hilarious. i wrote all the funny things in my journal. haha

 

yesterday, we went to our less active's house and my companion prepared me because he has cancer and two tumors in his neck so its really sad. i thought i would be fine. well we walk in and he is laying down (obviously they are very poor) and can barely speak, but excited to see us. we asked if we could just sing a hymn and leave a prayer because he isn't feeling well. we sand "the spirit of god" and then i asked who he wanted to give the prayer and he said me, so i started praying and just fell apart. i could not keep my tears in. i thought about my mother who battled breast cancer and how she was so "comfortable". people brought us food, we had enough money to pay for things, and the ward was so amazing to us and this poor man who's kids are acting like they don't care and his wife is yelling at him is in so much pain! i hate to see people in so much pain and i can't do anything. the whole time i was praying i thought about my mother. then i had the impression to share to them. we shared about faith, honestly that is all they have right now, is their faith. i just bawled and bawled through out the lesson. we got out and my thoughts were so mixed! i told my companion, "i know how he feels, well i don't know but my mom would tell us how she felt when she was going through all of that and its so hard" i can do any sickness, but cancer. that hits home.

things are going great here in Asia. i love you all and hope you all have a wonderful halloween!! stay safe.

xoxo

Sister Curtis