"When in doubt, Serve it out!"

Hello Family and Friends!

     Guess what! Today is my 2 month mark! Can you believe it?  I know I keep saying it, but time truly does go by so fast.  I am so very lucky to be blessed with Shingle Creek as my area because we are able to teach so many people each day.  The days go by so fast when you are always doing something and in Shingle Creek you can always find someone!  I am also so blessed to have Sister Ballif as my companion because we both love talking to people and just like Elder Ballard said in General Conference "If you want to teach more, you must talk to more people every day."

It's Fall in Shingle Creek!

     Everyday after personal study we sing a Hymn with the Hermanas. They started from the beginning of the Hymn Book and just sing the ones that they know.  One of the days this week we started singing, "Because I Have Been Given Much".  As we started singing that song it really touched me.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give.

Because of thy great bounty, Lord each day I live. 

I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see, 

who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care…

I cannot see another’s lack and I not share-

my glowing fire, my loaf of bread-my roof’s safe shelter over head, 

that he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love dear Lord,

I’ll share thy love again according to thy word. 

I shall give love to those in need. I’ll show that love by word and deed, 

thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed."

     I feel like this song is a perfect description of my mission.  I have been blessed with so much in my life.  My family, my friends, the house that I lived in, and great examples all around me.  I really don't know why I was able to be blessed so much.  I love that I am able to show Heavenly Father how grateful I am for all that he has blessed me with by helping others.

     "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

This is Sister Abraham.  We read the Book of Mormon with her every Wednesday.

     All day, everyday, I get to serve others.  I am a firm believer that when you are serving others it truly does make you happier.  Even if you are going through something so hard in this life and you don’t know how you are going to get through it, when you are lost in helping others your problems seem to not be as bad.  I promise, I have seen it help so many people here.  "When in doubt, Serve it out!"  Ha!  I just made that up!  Feel free to quote me.  I really do know that serving others will make you happy and lighten your burdens even if it’s only for a little while. 

     This week Sister Ballif's knee has been hurting her.  I like to call it a prayer injury.  Someones praying a little too hard.  So we ended up having to go to urgent care.  

It was a wild adventure, we made sure to 
take all kinds of crazy pictures.  

     It was such a bazaar experience.  I swear, there is no way that he was an actual doctor.  He came in with some wild hair and dirty scrubs, slapped around Sister Ballif's knee and then told her, and I quote "It seems sturdy."  

     Then he said to ice it every 15 minutes..... We don't have that kind of time.  Sister Ballif insisted on getting an x-ray because we did not trust this "doctors" opinion.  The x-ray turned out fine.  They said that it is just a minor strain. So now Sister Ballif is rocking an awesome knee brace and applying Icy Hot frequently, but other than that everything is going good. 

Looks like they got stickers!

     This week we were able to take Tamara to two different sessions of General Conference. The first one that we watched with her was on Saturday in the chapel, but honestly she didn't like it.  She thought it was super boring and didn't quite understand why we were listening to a bunch of old men talk for so long. That was our bad, we didn't explain it to her very well and we knew that she probably had a lot of questions. We decided that it would be better to have her watch conference in a members home. 

     We called up Brother and Sister R, probably my most favorite family it the ward. (He served his mission in Colombia. Uncle Bryan what years were you in Colombia?) We have dinner with them once a week so we knew that Tamara would be able to connect with them and their little baby girl. We met with her an hour before and had a lesson on prophets and why they are important.  She was able to have a better understanding and get some of her questions answered.  It was so smart to have the lesson in a members home because just like we all heard in conference, missionary work should be done with both missionaries and members.  Lessons are always better whenever their is a member present.  They are able to share their testimonies and it’s awesome to hear from "real people" not just missionaries.  We also gave her a study journal so she could write down what stood out to her in conference.  The second session went a lot better.  It was a better environment and she was able to get more from it.  She even took notes!

     As for me, General Conference was amazing!  It was honestly like Christmas I was able to watch 2 sessions in the chapel and 2 sessions in members homes.  Honestly I kind of liked watching it in the chapel best because in both of the members homes we were at they have the cutest babies and if any of you know me I get way too distracted by babies.  It would have been fine except for that one rule... :( I can't wait to play with babies again!  I'm so baby deprived!!)  But conference was so good!  I loved everything that was said.  I love how conference really focused on families.  

This is my wall!

     I also thought it was interesting how much they talked about the importance of members and missionaries working together!  Its true!  Members add so much to missionary work.  I didn't even realize it until I got out here but you really can't do missionary work without the members help because missionaries eventually have to leave but members will always be there.  So all of you back home don’t forget that you are all missionaries too.  Try and share what you know with someone you normally wouldn't.  I know that  when we speak up, we will effect someones life and bring them closer to Christ.  I know that this church is true and I am so grateful for a prophet today that we can get guidance from. 

Ruth's Baby (she is so cute)

     This week we taught an awesome girl named Ruth. She is 16 years old and has the cutest baby girl who is 5 months old.  It is really sad because she is really lonely because her baby daddy is back in Liberia and she is always home taking care of her baby.  When we knocked on her door she invited us in because she was so excited to have company over.  We taught her about the restoration and she felt the spirit so strong and got emotional.  She really loved the part about the atonement and she can't wait to read and find out more for herself.  We invited her to General Conference and she said yes, but when her ride went to pick her up her parents wouldn't let her come. The next day we were able to see her again.  We read the Book of Mormon with her Mosiah 24.  She felt the spirit and really has a great understanding of the scriptures.  Next time we see her we are hoping that we can meet with her parents and that hopefully they will continue to let her learn or they will start to learn with her.  We are really excited to meet with her again.

I love you all so much. Thanks for all your support! 

Love Sister Kendra Curtis

P.S. Next week I have to give a talk in church. :/ But I have the best topic ever... What did you like about General Conference? So wish me luck!  I'll tell you about it next week.

Yum! Fiesta Cancun!!! Best Mexican Food!
I highly suggest you try the chimmy cheesecake!
Sister Donley took them to lunch on P-day!

My new cute planner!