Dearest Family and Friends!
 |
| A rainy day at the University of Minnesota |
(click on this ^)
What is possible for you Because of Him?
Happy Easter Everybody! :)
To start off we were able to have a lesson with Ashley and Sister Soelberg joined us for the lesson. It went really well. We wanted to focus our lesson on recognizing the spirit. We were able to share patterns of light with her. It was amazing, she would express concerns that she has and then right after Elder Bednar would answer her question exactly even using some of the same phrases. And Sister Soelberg was great as well. She has such a great spirit and just a wonderful way of making others feel loved. We helped her understand the different ways the spirit talks to us and then we were able to commit her to have a "spirit journal". We gave her a journal specifically for the times when she feels the spirit. Told her to write them down and if it is easier to even draw pictures. We are trying a bunch of different ways so that she can better know how the spirit is speaking to her and then realize just how much it is happening. We are excited to meet with her this week and see how it turned out.
 |
| Sister Pead and Phillip at the fireside... still not baptized...Aggh! |
I have quite a few crazy stories for things that happened this week we will see how many I can fit in. So one night Sister Callister and I were walking around and we were able to talk to a guy names Cortez. He was african and he was trying to ask people for money. He asked us and we said no but then we were able to talk to him about God. I was basically holding the conversation the whole time and all of the sudden I just looked over and Sister Callister was jusg staring at him. She had no idea what this guy was saying. This guy was all over the place. We were trying to teach him the restoration but he would get so off topic. Let me give you an example of how crazy off topic it was. We were talking about how Heavenly Father loves us so much and how he sent his some Jesus Christ because he loves us.
Then all the sudden Cortez says, "Jenny... Jenny! Just like Jenny! Jenny loved Forest so much that she would do anything for him!" ....Sister Callisters eyes go huge she was completely caught off guard. I then say, "Yeah imagine all that love but even more for us. Jesus Christ did so much for us...." Then I just kept going.
It was a hilarious lesson. We tried to get his information so we could share more with him but it is kind of hard to get a hobo's address and phone number. We ended up just having to give him ours.
 |
| Football Stadium! |
Another one, we had this awesome lesson with a girl named Callie. We meet her on the bus and we were able to teach her all about the restoration. She loved it! She was so full of the spirit and had such a desire to learn more. We got off the bus and we started walking her to her apartment. But then all the sudden as we were walking some girl came up to Callie and gave her a note card and said "you dropped this" then ran off. We have talked to her before, her name is Filimena. She is not a fan of what we are sharing with others. She said that she felt bad for us because we were going around telling everyone something that isn't true. Sister Callister then looked over Callie's shoulder to see what was on the note card and it said, "Don't listen to them they are lying!" From then on things got way weird and Callie gave us a fake email address. It was heartbreaking to watch the light that was in her eyes disappear. I was so sad that because of Filimena, Callie didn't want anything to do with us. It is so sad. It made me feel just a little bit how Heavenly Father must feel. He is constantly looking down on us rooting us on but then all the sudden little things will get in our way and we then loose the light we once had. One thing that is hopeful is this probably wasn't the last time that she will see missionaries. We at least planted a seed and one day someone will be able to help her see more and come back to the light.
 |
| Easter Bunny Magic! |
On Saturday morning we had the great idea of making Sister Pao and Sister Huang some Easter baskets (...trash bags). We filled there baskets (bags) with grass, eggs, candy and love notes just like every good basket should have. Then we ran over there bright and early and they were able to have a Happy Easter! This was Sister Huang's first Easter ever and Sister Pao's second. They have never been able to experience the Easter Bunny magic. It was so much fun and they loved it! Thanks for all of the Easter candy family! I was able to share and have a Happy Chinese Easter! :) Everyone loved it!
 |
| Thanks Family! |
 |
| Easter Dinner all the TC YSA missionaries |
 |
| Husteds and Soelbergs senior missionaries |
Oh update with Eva! Last week were able to send her a letter with a general conference talk in it. We just let her know how much we love her and how the Lord loves her. Then we talked about how He is always there to help us through our trials. Then one of the members in our ward was able to get a hold of Eva Saturday night. He asked her how she was doing and she then told him that her father had a stroke! He is doing fine. The member was then able to talk Eva into having a lesson with us this week. We are so excited. We were able to talk to her on the phone for a little and it was good to hear how she was doing. She said she got our letter in the mail and that it really helped her. It is amazing to see how the Lord has his own timing. This could be Eva's time! We are so grateful that the Lord has answered our prayers and made it possible that we will be able to meet with her again. :)
Yesterday was the best Easter ever! We has such a great service and the spirit was so strong. I love hearing the testimonies of others and how the atonement has blessed their lives. The day was mostly focused on the atonement and all that is possible because of it. One of the speakers shared this amazing poem, I wish I knew the name. I will try and find out. I will do my best to tell it. It talked about a man and how he had dug himself into a huge hole and he couldn't get out on his own. Then all the sudden from above he heard a voice that said, "Don't give up. You can get out. Build a ladder with the sticks and rocks that are around you."
He did just that. He started doing all he could to build a ladder to the top so he could get out. Once he did all that he could, he then climbed up the ladder and realized that he was 10 feet short from reaching the top. He went back down, started to cry and wondered why? Why his ladder wasn't long enough? Why he couldn't get out?
Then all the sudden he heard a voice that said, "Your ladder is high enough now I will throw down a rope." He then climbed up the ladder and then climbed up the rope. Christ was standing there. He makes up for what we can’t. When it looks like things are completely hopeless and we have done all we can, He will do the rest. He will always pull us out if we will do our part.
He then asked his Savior, "How can I repay you, what can I do?"
The Savior said "Feed my Sheep." He then looked around and saw other holes with people inside. He went around telling them, “Don't give up. You can get out. Build a ladder with the sticks and rocks that are around you.”
We can use what we have had to go through to help others and to lift others up. By sharing our experiences and trials with them, they can have the same happiness that we have in our lives.
This has been a big part of what has stuck out to me this week. This week has probably been my turning point in my mission. I have felt like a lot of my mission I haven't been doing my "very" best. That I have been holding something back and I have never been sure of what it was. This week has really got me thinking about what it is that I need to do to become the very best missionary that I can. I really do need to step it up and I need to start now. We got to meet with the Sister Training Leaders and they were able to teach me a lot.
They talked to us about the talk Refined in Our Trials by James E Faust. They talked about about how we all have "refiners fire" moments in our lives. This got me thinking. At first I didn't even know if I had any. But I have specifically been praying to have them brought to my memory and I have had a flood of life changing experiences brought to my mine. Things that I have completely forgotten about. I know that it is through the spirit that I was able to remember. These experiences and trials aren't "mine" anymore, they are the Lord's. While I am here on my mission, I get to use them to bless the lives of others on my mission. My investigators, members, and my companion. I have been given them for a reason. They really are the life changing moments in my life that have made me into the person I am today. I am so grateful for the blessing I have had this week to have my eyes opened. To see how I can better help those I am serving with. I love this gospel so very much. I want to help others get out of their holes, because I know that I have been helped out of mine. Like I have said before it is
Because of Him!
Love, Sister Kendra Curtis
 |
| I love these sisters! |
 |
| This is Sister Pao's hat! I love it! (mom try and fig one of these for me for next winter) |
 |
| Weirdo Fountain! |
No comments:
Post a Comment