Braiding hair and Sharing the Gospel

Hello family and friends! 

     I love you all so very much!  This week has been such a great week.  Sister Kekauoha and I have seen so many miracles this week.  We have been working so hard and we have been able to meet a ton on amazing people in the process.

Desirae's children!

     This week we were able to see Eva a couple of times.  She is great!  She is still working towards getting baptized on June 7th we are so excited for her.  This week we had a great lesson we were able to talk about the plans all they way up to her baptism then we talked a little bit about her receiving the Holy Ghost.  We read with her 2 Nephi 32, in verse 8 it says, 

" And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray." 

     All the sudden she looked at us and said.  I will be praying then I don't want to follow the evil spirits.  She has really been able to see the importance of the scriptures and how it really will help guide her.  

     We had another lesson with her and it was really funny. We were able to bring a member with us her name is Wonderful.  She is from Liberia and she was recently baptized last year.  She is amazing!  When we got to Eva's house we realized that she double booked herself.  She was suppose to meet with us and she was suppose to finish braiding someones hair.  Wonderful braids hair for a living so she jumped up and started helping Eva braid her friends hair.  All the sudden Sister K and I were teaching them while there was a bunch of braiding going on.  It was a really funny lesson then all the sudden Eva's friend Pinky, a non member told Eva to stop because wonderful was doing a better job and that she should sit down and listen.  It ended up being a really great lesson.  Wonderful is awesome she bore such an amazing testimony of the gospel even while braiding someones hair!  Eva was able to go to church this week.  We are excited for her it is finally her time to take these steps!

     We then were able to see Leticia a couple times this week.  She is the one from South Africa with 2 little girls.  They are so cute.  The same day when Wonderful was with us we were able to go stop by her house and see how she was doing.  She wasn't very happy and she was very overwhelmed.  We then found out that her sister who is still in Africa had just passed away after giving birth to a baby girl.  It was very hard on her.  We asked her if we could say a prayer with her and share a scripture with her.  She said yes and that there is always time for God.  We were able to share a scripture with her then Wonderful bore her testimony of how this gospel has changed her life.  It was amazing to see the light that came into Leticia's eyes as Wonderful spoke of the truths of this gospel.  Leticia then expressed how she wanted to come to church but she can't because she has to work on Sunday.  All the sudden Wonderful whipped out her finger and said, "You aren't suppose to work on Sundays!"  It was so funny Leticia told us that she will try to make it next Sunday.  Hopefully we will see her at church this week.  I know that in hard times like the ones she is experiencing all she needs is the gospel and it will bring her so much peace and happiness.

Cleaning another cat house!  This kind of service makes me so sneezy.

     One day we were out tracting and we knocked into a man named Albert.  He invited us in and he was so excited to have a discussion with us.  He told us "I have never had anyone knock on my door before."  He is from Kenya and Heidi, his wife, is from Northern Minnesota.  They have been married for 2 months and are probably in their late 20s.  They are both 7th day Adventist.  We were able to meet with them twice this week, we were able to talk about the restoration and the Book of Mormon.  Heidi seems more hesitant but Albert loves it.  He has such a pure and sincere desire to learn more! They were able to come to the President's Fireside last night.  They left before we were able to talk to them about it but we got a text from him later that night.  It said, "Not a problem Sister Curtis & Sister Kekauoha, thank you for inviting us over, I felt quite at home with the church family.  Looking forward to study again soon." Yay!  We are so excited to meet with them again and help them learn more! 

Jalisa

     This week we had a lesson with Jalisa.  She has a date set for June 14th.  We are excited for her to take this step and we know that it will bring a lot of happiness to her life.  Earlier this week we went to go meet with her and she was holding something back from us and we weren't sure what but we continued to teach her.  Then Sister K was inspired to read 1 Nephi 7:17-18

"But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. 

And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again."

     This verse talks a lot about the power of the atonement and how with the help of the Lord he will give us the strength to do hard things.  As Sister K was sharing this with her I looked down a couple verses and verse 21 stood out to me.

"And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness. And it came to pass that they did so. And after they had done praying unto the Lord we did again travel on our journey towards the tent of our father."

     We then talked about forgiveness a little then asked some inspiring question then all the sudden she started opening up to us.  We were able to find the source of her problems and most of it came from recently breaking up with her boyfriend.  In that moment we told her again that the Lord can give her strength and that in Him everything is possible.  We then told her about priesthood blessings and how blessings can help us.  They can give us comfort and guidance and it comes straight from God.  We were then able to get her a blessing the next day from the YSA Elders and a member of the YSA ward.  It was awesome.  We also were able to talk to her about the Holy Ghost and how it is the greatest gift Heavenly Father has given us.  She was able to go to the YSA ward and she was able to come to the fireside.  We are really excited for her. :)

On our way to the Presidents Fireside!

     What has really been standing out to me this week is the Holy Ghost.  I am so grateful for this amazing gift that we have.  We are able to have the constant companionship that is there to comfort us, to strengthen us, to warn us, and to guide us.  I know that this is the thing that continues to help everyone after we are baptized and I am so happy to share that truth with others.

Sister K. is the best!

I love you all so much! Have a great week! 

Love, Sister Kendra Curtis

My TC YSA Sisters

Flash Back to Stillwater! 

Byron told me he is still reading the Book of Mormon 

and Delores told me that he is still being a Stinker! 
Aggghh!  Exactly how I left them :)