Share the Gospel!

Hey family and friends!

     It’s officially the start of a new transfer and I am so excited.  I am really happy that I get to stay here in Apple Valley for another transfer.  Good things are going to happen.  We were able to make some transfer goals of the different things that we want to do and that we want to accomplish.  One of the goals that I have made that I am really excited about is in my new planner.  I put a place where each day I am going to write down a miracle that I see.  I am excited because I feel like this is going to help me to realize just how much the Lord in involved in my day.  I will also be looking harder :)

     One of the Elders in Apple Valley, Elder Weatherford got transferred.  Now we have a new Elder, Elder Westover, and he is from South Jordan! Crazy huh!  I don't know him from before, or his first name... but he went to Herriman High School and he worked at the district movie theater!  Weird huh!  He probably gave me popcorn at some point!  Anyways I just think it is so strange because we know some of the same people.  He is from my home land!  I will try to get a picture with him sometime.

Goodbye Elder Weatherford

     We are so excited because this week we got to meet with Khalia a couple of times.  The lessons have been very spiritual lately.  She is becoming more and more prepared.  She keeps pointing out different times in her life where the Lord has placed people in her path for a reason and how he has been preparing her.  She still talks about when we saw Meet the Mormons and she keeps telling us that she wants Noodles to serve a mission like us.  Little things keep happening each day. We were able to watch the hour long  movie about Joseph Smith with her.  We had to break it up and watch it 2 days in a row.  But when we finished the movie we asked her what her thoughts were and she bore a powerful testimony about the Prophet Joseph Smith.  She told us that she knows that he was called of God and that no man would do what he did if he wasn't called of God.  Then she told us about a couple of experiences where she has had to stand up for Mormons because she has been telling people how happy it has made her.  She then told us that she knows what she has felt is real and that it truly is coming from God.  Then after she bore such a powerful testimony and the spirit was so strong in her home we ask Khalia if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God.  She said yes and now she is preparing to be baptized on November 15th.  We are so excited for her she is finally ready and really knows for herself that it is true.  But this is where the hard part begins.  Satan is going to try extra hard to stop her, to make her doubt the strong confirmations that she has had.  

     I am so very grateful for my mother because she always seems to be inspired when she sends me packages.  I got a package that very day with a bunch of journals and books for kids that she has been collecting for a while.  We were able to give Khalia one of those journals and we told her to write in it each day.  To write down how she feels and her testimony and then when she starts to doubt her decision she can look back on what she has felt and to remember the happiness that the gospel has brought her.  We are really excited for her!

     We got to meet with Sharay again this week, she was very busy but we were able to teach her about the Plan of Salvation.  She loved it!  She had a lot of very good questions and she was excited to learn about the plan that Heavenly Father has for us.  She asks some questions that lead into us talking about temples and family history work.  She was so excited she thought it was so great to know that others who haven't had the chance to learn about Christ will be able to and that we can help them.  Next time we see her we are going to give her a My Family Booklet so that she can get started on her family history.  I think it is so interesting how many people are interested in finding out more about their families.  Just another way that the Lord is hastening His work.

     This week we have been doing a lot of less active work.  Sister McCullough and I have had some really great experiences were we know that we have been sent to Apple Valley to help some of the less active that the Elders wouldn't have been able to go see. Young moms with husbands that work a lot, single women, all kinds of sisters who need the strength and support to keep going.  I am so grateful for them and I am grateful for the small steps that they take.  We were able to get 3 less active families to church this week.  Miracles are happening all around us. :)

     We also were able to work with the youth again last week.  They are so inspiring.  Last week we focused on role playing so they could practice their teaching.  The missionary did the role play first.  We went through the whole lesson plan with them and we showed them how we would teach.  After words they told us the things they liked and the things that they wanted to do.  Then the youth split up into groups. There were about 4 youth together and they then taught a leader. The missionaries walked and round and watched.  It was so good!  I really just can't believe what great teachers they are.  They are way more prepared then I ever was.  They are ready to teach and to share what they know with others.  We are really excited to hear about how it goes.  I wouldn't be surprise if we get a bunch of new investigators because of it.

     Yesterday, at church, I was asked to give a talk in church.  The topic was "How have you learned to share the gospel?"  I was so excited to have this topic because this is something I have experienced a lot of in the last year.  The speaker before me was Ashley Flake.  She is my inspirations.  She grew up in Utah but now that she lives in Minnesota she is the best missionary ever.  She is a junior in High School and is constantly talking about the gospel with others.  In her talk she shared a couple of those experience and I just think it goes to show that you can share the gospel with anyone.  Many times we feel that we have to build a deep relationship with someone before we can share more with them.  But Ashley is a perfect example of how it can be one of the first things we share with others.  It doesn't mean the first thing we say is "Hey do you want to meet with the missionaries?"  The thing is our religion is something that is part of us.  It is a lot of times some of the first things that a person would notice about us: the way we dress, the way we talk, the things we do, the happiness we have.  It’s part of us!  

     Then it was my turn.  Most of my talk I talked about the importance of being converted.  I compared it to helping someone out of a hole.  You wouldn't jump in the hole to help them out because then you would get yourself stuck.  You would have to stay on higher ground, reaching down to them so that you can lift them higher.  In a sense, that is what we have to do. We have to stay strong.  We have to build up our testimonies and ultimately we have to become converted!  

     I read a talk earlier on my mission by Elder Bednar called, "Converted unto the Lord."  In this talk it says the difference between a testimony and being converted, "A testimony is knowing that the gospel is true, Conversion is consistently being true to the gospel."  This little concept makes such a huge difference.  I know that as we strengthen our selves we will want to strengthen others.  In the Joseph Smith movie that we watched with Khalia, Joseph Smith said, "A man will not be content with the happiness of his family, he will want to share that happiness with many more."  As we become converted sharing that happiness will become second instinct.  I want to leave you all with the same challenge I left to the Apple Valley ward.  Prepare to share.  You never know who the Lord is placing in your path right now. The Lord trusts you to do his work.  Don't miss the moments.  They truly are life changing!

Love Sister Kendra Curtis

Look who found me?  Ida Donley was at a baptism for her friend.