She's Coming Home!

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

     Everyone! I really just can’t believe this. I can’t believe that I am at the end of my mission. This is the last email that I will be sending as a sister missionary. I truly don’t even know how to begin. The past 18 months have been the very best. I wouldn’t have changed anything. I guess I better explain all that happened this week. 

     We had a super fun District P-day. We went to Adventure Zone. We had a ton of fun I really like lazer tag and we had unlimited games! Not going to lie, I got pretty good. :) This is probably one of my favorite districts that I have served with. We have on ton of fun together. Sister Simpson and I are in charge of putting together the "District Reunion". I am so grateful that most of the people that I have met on my mission I really will have the chance to see again, if not at least we can stay in contact through Facebook. The blessings of technology.

     A lot happened this week and I don’t have time to talk about it all. Find me sometime if you want to hear more! :)

     We were so excited because Trevor’s baptism was this week, on Friday the 13th! It really was such a great day. He was so nervous and he was getting a lot of family opposition right before. He didn’t even tell his grandparents that he was getting baptized until the day of. But he was able to make it to the church at 6:00. While we were talking to him he was still pretty nervous but he was also starting to get really excited. It was really neat because we were able to meet the missionaries that he first met 2 years ago. It was actually a senior couple, Elder and Sister Deihl, they drove up from Montana to support him. Two years ago Trevor was at the football field in Moose Lake working out for football when he met Elder Deihl. They had a really great talk but Trevor was only 17 years old and his family wouldn’t let him keep meeting with the missionaries. Then two months ago we met him. It’s amazing how the Lord works. It was great meeting them, Sister Deihl was such a sweetheart. 

     She gave me a huge hug and said, "Thank you for serving a mission. Thank you for being where the Lord needed you to be. Thank you for being here." It was such a tender moment. She was tearing up, in that moment I felt the spirit so strong. I know that the Lord had the Deihl's plant the seed and then two years later he was finally ready. It was such a blessing to be apart of this process and such a great way to end my mission! :)

     President and Sister Forbes drove to Carlton just to see Trevor’s baptism. It was really neat that they would drive all that way and then after that they took us to Applebee’s... it was kind of strange, but it was really fun talking to them. They were talking a lot about Carlton and how glad they were to have been able to put sisters in the area and how sad they are that they have to take sisters out. On Wednesday when I go home, the mission is going to be loosing 7 sets of sister missionaries. We are just really grateful because they aren’t going to close down the area, they are going to put elders in. We are so grateful. The President actually had to close down 12 areas! It’s crazy how small the mission is getting. It was really fun talking to them. 

     Then on Saturday we were able to go up to Duluth to go to Libby’s baptism. It was so exciting I am so happy for her. It was fun because I was there when she decided to get baptized. This was a super great week. 

     Then Uncle Kent and Aunt Dorit and Karin and Joe met us at the church and we then when to Texas Roadhouse! My favorite! It was so great to see them and to spend some time with them. 

     I was so excited when they said that they were going to come to the Carlton Branch for church! It was really fun to have them at church. It was such a special day because Trevor received the Holy Ghost. He is so happy now. His countenance has totally changed. He has the light in his eyes! I am so happy for him. He deserves this. He needed to know that he is loved and that there are good things to come!

     At the end of the meeting, President Ryan got up and said as many of you know this is Sister Curtis’s last week. She failed to tell all of us until about 2 weeks ago that this was even her last area. We wanted to let Sister Curtis have the last 5 minutes to bear her testimony. Up until that very moment, I have been very composed about going home. I have just accepted it. I am sad to leave but also excited for my next journey. But all the sudden, as I was walking up to the pulpit, I lost it. It finally hit me. I am leaving Minnesota, I have finished my full-time mission, I am leaving those I love and care about behind. I was trying to think about what to say or where to begin and all that came out was tears. I have loved and treasured the time I have spent here. I have loved the all people I have met. I am so grateful! Truly and forever grateful. I don’t remember very much of what I said and I’m not even sure if it made sense, but I love the gospel so much. I know that the messages I share each and everyday are true. I know that Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us so much and he wants us to be happy and to succeed in life. We all experience challenges and trials but they are there to help us grow and to become better. I know that because of my mission I have grown so much. I am a completely different person then that girl who walked off the plane 18 months ago. I now have a solid testimony of my Savior, and the love that he has for each and everyone of us. Because of that love we all have the ability to change and to repent. Change is a good thing, it can be hard and sometimes even painful, but the Lord lets us experience it because he loves us. We are so blessed to know all of this. As I was bearing my testimony, I was looking straight ahead I saw Trevor and I was so excited for him. I was so excited that he now gets to feel this happiness for himself.

Sister Ryan and the Young Women!

     We have been trying to hard to go and to meet Trevor’s grandparents but they have no desire to "meet the Mormons" (ha) So we asked Trevor if we could stop by sometime on Sunday. 

     He said, "Don't tell me about it! If I don't know about it then I can't warn them." 

     Perfect. We then went over last night. We went over with some Valentine’s day cookies. He let us come in, the grandparents weren’t very happy at the beginning but we introduced our selves and told them who we were. Right off the bat the grandpa said, "I’m not going to convert so don’t even try recruiting me." 

     We expressed that that wasn’t our goal and that we just wanted to introduce ourselves to them and we wanted to see if they had any questions. It actually turned into a really good experience. We had some pretty good discussions about what we believe and why we believe it. We left them with a For the Strength of Youth booklet. We told then that in that book it has the standards that we, as members, strive to live by and that this was the first thing we left with Trevor. They really liked us. They said that they had never talked to a Mormon before and that we weren’t as bad as they thought. We are going to try and have the elders stop by and maybe answer more questions. It was a great way to end our night.

     I really am at terms with going home. I am excited because truly this work is never over. I will always be a representative of Jesus Christ. Even though on Wednesday I am going to be released and I am going to have to take off my tag, I will always wear this name on my heart. I will always try to bring others happiness and I will always share what I know! 

Thanks everyone for the letters and emails! 

I am so blessed I am really excited to see all of you again. 

I love you and see you soon!

Love, Sister Kendra Curtis

CHOOSE THE RIGHT and see you soon :)

Hello Family and Friends

     I am sorry but this email is going to have to be a little short this week because we are having our last district P-day. The Elders in our district who are serving in Wisconsin were able to make it here. We are going to some place called Adventure Zone where we can play laser tag, mini golf and a bunch of other stuff. I am pretty excited but I am sad that I’m not going to have as much time to type because this week was so awesome!

     I guess to start off we had a crazy P-day last week! The Elders were able to get a hold of one of those shocking games (which I hate and never play!) and they wanted us to play with them. Ahh. I hate those games. Sister Simpson and I took a lot of convincing to finally sit down at the table and even from there it took a lot of convincing for us to pick up the torturer device. It was pretty funny not going to lie but at the same time, I don’t know if I would play again. After playing that we played a lot of active games which was pretty fun. I really like our district right now. 

The shocking game!

     Then we had an awesome miracle this week. We were out tracting and we met a woman named Mary, she was really nice. She invited us in from the cold and we were able to talk to her for a little while in her doorway. As we were talking to her she began to open up to us about a lot of stuff. She told us about all of the trials and struggles that she has been going through and how God has helped her through it.  I then shared with her the story from the Mormon Message, The Will of God, how God loves us enough to cut us down so we can reach our full potential. She started crying and gave us a hug expressing how grateful she was for us and for what we had shared with her. She also expressed how her 19 year old son has been struggling through all of this as well. We then showed her the For the Strength of Youth booklet and told her that she could show it to her son. She was really happy and excited to show him. It was a really neat contact. 

     Then yesterday after church we were able to go stop by and see her again. She invited us in and we were able to share a lesson with her. She has a lot of hard trials going on in her life right now she was grateful that we were there to listen. Then we shared a lesson with her about forgiveness and showed her the Mormon Message, Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light, it really spoke to her and the spirit was touching her heart and giving her the counsel that she needed.    

     At the end of our lesson she said, “Who is your boss or leader? I would love to write them a letter expressing how grateful I am for you and for all that you have done for me.”

      Sister Woolley and I looked at each other, then I turned to her and said, "We are representatives of Jesus Christ, we come out her for a year and a half to share our happiness with others. If their is anyone that you should thank it is God, he is the one who sent us to you." She was very emotional again and expressed how much we had helped her and how she would love to meet with us again. It is moments like those where I truly know that the Lord is placing us in peoples paths. Guiding us and showing us where we need to go and who is ready to hear a message of peace and hope.

I talked Sister Woolley into getting a Minnesota hat!

     Then the last thing I want to share this week is about Trevor! He is doing so great! He had his baptismal interview with Elder Damron on Saturday and it went really well. He is ready and I am so excited. Afterwards, we stayed for a baptism that the Duluth Sisters where having. It was really great because Trevor had never seen a baptism before. He loved it. Ever since he saw the baptism he is on fire! Nothing is going to stop him. Before he was really nervous and everything bad was happening. His work was being lame and scheduled him on his baptismal day and Sunday. But he was able to stand up and get the days off. We are so proud of him. Ever since last Monday he has met with us everyday because he is nervous that if he doesn’t see us that he might slip up and he knows that Satan is going to do everything he can to stop this from happening. He can totally do it and we are so excited! Friday the 13th! What an awesome day to be baptized!

Sister Woolley having a laughing attack!
Missionary work is the best!

     Well that’s all I have time for this week. Things are going really good though. Sister Woolley and I are killing it up here in Carlton. We actually teach really well together which is surprising because we haven’t been together that long. It will be interesting to see what they are going to do with the area next week when we find out transfers. I love you all so much! Thanks for everything. I hope you have a great week! 

CHOOSE THE RIGHT 

and see you soon! :)

Love, Sister Kendra Curtis

Sister Woolley is now the cat picture legend!

I love being a missionary!

Hello Family and Friends!

     So the first two stories are just to let you all know that missionary work is full of excitement. You never know what to expect and we are still crazy kids who love to have fun! hahaha Don’t judge me okay! :)

Duluth Trio!

     On Monday, I was still in a trio with the Duluth sisters. We had a really fun P-day. We got together with the the elders in Duluth and we played basketball, ultimate frisbee, and some other games. So the missionaries in Duluth are pretty funny because they always do pranks to each other. Things get pretty crazy up north. They just go back and forth they are pretty funny and they get each other pretty good. So the sisters keep asking the elders if they will trade cars with them one day because they have a truck. Of course the elders always so no. But then during games the elders were like, okay sisters, you can drive our car. We all looked at them and said, WHAT? Why? What did you do to it? They said nothing we didn’t do anything to the truck.   

        ....We were all super confused because they were so willing we knew something was up. But they insisted that we trade. So we went out to our cars and swapped our stuff out. They then left for their dinner while we continued playing games. Then when it was finally time for us to go we went out to the truck and we had a joint teacher with us that was going to come out with us. We went out to go start up the truck and the key didn’t fit... we tried and thought maybe it was just us. But no, sure enough the elders gave us a fake key! They had it all planned out so that it would work perfectly, because we had a trio so the other elders could take us to our appointment and then after that appointment the other elders were going to take us back to the car because it was all super close. They just missed one little detail they didn’t think about us having a joint teacher that we needed to drive. The whole thing was pretty funny. They ended up having to drive back and give us the real key. Not going to lie it was very clever. We were able to have the truck the whole day then we switched back. We were sure to take a picture with and near the truck to have proof. Good old Duluth. Always entertaining!

Sister Simpson wearing the glasses that go with the truck!

     I then told the sisters about a great way to get the elders back. I told them about the prank that I would always play on people at college. If anyone ever left their Facebook online on my computer, I would change their birthday to the very next day. It’s really funny because then all these people comment on you wall and text you telling you Happy Birthday when it really isn’t your Birthday. And since they are all using Facebook up North, it would be the perfect prank. On Saturday one of the elders left his Facebook logged on so they totally did it! It was so funny because not only did all of his friends from home wish him Happy Birthday but all the members did as well! HAHA! And they have no idea who it was. There is always funny things going on between those missionaries! :)

Sister Woolley!

     But anyways on Tuesday I was finally able to get my new companion Sister Woolley. She is really fun. She is 19 years old, her dad is in the Air Force so she has lived all over the place, she went to BYU for a year, and she LOVES Disney! We have a lot in common. Our first couple of days together were awesome we went out and did some tracting, which I feel like I haven't done in a while, and it was really great. We were able to talk to a lot of people and we were able to teach some good lessons. That was really great. Then we went over to our Branch President’s house, President Denny and we were able to have dinner over there. It was great for her to meet that family because they do so much for the branch. Then afterwards we were able to go have a lesson with Trevor, our lesson was really good, he just asked us a bunch of questions and we answered them. We talked a lot about baptism for the dead and temples. I just love the questions that he asks because they are pretty deep and you can tell that he really puts a lot of thought into them. Sister Woolley is a really awesome teacher. I was surprised. I thought that maybe she wouldn’t have had that much experience since she just came from the office but she really is awesome. 

Meet the Mormons in Duluth!

     We were also able to go up to Duluth with a part member family to go and see Meet the Mormons with their ward. It was really great. They had a really nice turn out and it was cool to see all the non-members that came. We were really sad because Trevor wasn’t able to come. We really wanted him to be there because we wanted him to see the big church and the ward. It would have been good for him to see just how big of a support group that he would have. Hopefully we will be able to find some other activity that he can go to in Duluth.

     We were able to have a couple other lessons with Trevor and they are all going really well. He has been really hesitant about setting a day to be baptized because his family is really giving him a hard time right now. One night he actually made this really cool slide show kind of going through all of the different trials that he has gone through in his life. It was really sad, but at the end he went through and explained the day that he first met Sister England and I, and how ever since that day he has been able to change his life around and that he has felt a lot happier and has hope. It was really awesome. We also were able to set a date with him for February 13th. 

     Then on Saturday we began our fast with him to help his family soften their hearts. As we were saying the prayer I don't know why but I just felt really uneasy about something, and I had no idea what. I tried talking to Sister Woolley about it but she was kind of having an off day herself. She was really missing her last area and wasn’t really letting her heart be in Carlton at all, I was super stressed and worried because I didn’t know why I was feeling the way that I was feeling and I didn’t want to do the wrong thing. To be honest, I really want to be here for Trevor’s baptism because they are probably going to be white washing the area with elders and I am nervous that if he isn’t baptized that when the new elders come that he will close up and his progression will stop because he has already gone through so much and opened up to us. I truly feel like he is ready, he is so prepared, probably one of the most prepared investigators I have taught but still I felt uneasy about it. I felt completely alone on making this decision... I kind of refocused my fast of coming to know if this was right for Trevor, to see if he was ready and if the 13th was the right day.

     Then Sunday morning, Sister Woolley was having a melt down. She was telling him how much she missed Bloomington and how she doesn’t want to get to know the people here because she is just going to have to leave in 3 weeks and how she hates change because that is something that she has had to go through almost all of her life. I was sitting there listening to her and I had no idea what to say... I just couldn't believe that this was happening again. I just wanted to get to work and to help the people here in Carlton. I didn’t want to be dealing with this right now. I was pretty frustrated. We went to church and things were a little rough, but it was a good day as well. 

     After church we went to go and see some less active members and while we were there it was like I was doing everything completely on my own. Sister Woolley wasn’t saying anything and was completely shutting down. We got out of the lesson and as we were driving to stop by someone else she looked over at me and said, "Is something wrong? It seems like there is some tension." I looked and her and said, I just don't know what we are supposed to do when you are sad and you don’t talk in our lessons. She then started crying, she broke down and just talked about all the frustrations that she was having. I felt like we just needed to go home and that I needed to help her. We went home and we had a really great conversion. She opened up to me and told me about some of her struggles that she had at the beginning of her mission.   

     I then asked her, "So why are you still here? Why are you on a mission?" 

     She answered and said, "Because my family doesn't want me to come home and I told the Forbes I would stay. But I’m not so sure if I want to be here." 

     I then asked her, "When did you feel like you gained a testimony that the church is true?" 

     She paused for a moment then said, "....I don't know if I ever have." 

     I then said, "What part do you have the hardest time with?" 

     She looked at me and said, "I have a hard time trusting God. I just don’t feel that close relationship that others say they have." 

     I looked at her and I could just see the struggles that she was feeling and I felt the love that Heavenly Father has for her. I told her that He loves her so much and that He is so proud of her for staying out here. And that her time here in Carlton, for just a few weeks, can be a time to prove herself. To show the Lord and President Forbes that she has changed and is ready to get back to work and that she can do this. We then pulled out the Gospel Principles manual and we talked about understanding the attributes of Heavenly Father and coming to know him for ourselves. 

     I then shared an experience with her, I have wrote about this before, but it was an experience that I had when I was in High School, I had always felt like I didn’t have a good relationship with God and that I didn’t have any of those amazing moments that others seemed to have. I wondered what I was doing wrong and why I wasn’t feeling anything. Then when I was in seminary they were talking about exactly that. My teacher said that it’s hard to know when the Holy Ghost is talking to you if you don’t know how he does it. She then left us with a challenge. She told each of us to go home and to pray and then ask Heavenly Father how we feel the spirit, then to sit and wait. That night, I knelt at the side of my bed and I did just that. I said a simple prayer and asked to feel Heavenly Father, then I waited. I didn’t know how long I was supposed to wait or what I was waiting for but I waited. Then all the sudden I felt it! It felt like butterflies in my chest getting bigger and bigger. I just made me feel good inside. Ever since that moment I have always been able to know when the spirit is talking to me. I didn’t really know if I had helped her at all but I did what I could.   

     She also talked about how she doesn’t really feel the spirit as much as she used to at the beginning of her mission. I then told her that as missionaries, we always have the spirit with us, we even have an extra measure of the spirit with us. I remember there was a time in my mission where I felt the same way. But I realized that we are living a different life then we did before the Holy Ghost isn’t coming in and out as much as it did before our missions because we have less distractions. But it is literally with us all the time. It’s hard to recognize because we are so comfortable with it, but if we pay attention you will begin to see how much it is actually there.

     We then got a text from Trevor saying, that he felt like he was missing something big. We didn’t really know what that was supposed to mean so we called him instead to talk and see what was going on. Sister Woolley was leading out the phone call. She was asking him how things were going, he began to say that he felt like he was missing something big, that he still had one thing that he needed to resolve, he said that he didn’t feel like he had a personal relationship with Heavenly Father. He said that he knew that everything he has learned and that we have talked about is true but he doesn’t feel he completely trusts Heavenly Father.    

     Sister Woolley and I just looked at each other and we couldn’t believe what he was saying, this was no coincidence. She then started talking and it was so powerful. She began to share with him everything that we had just been talking about 10 minutes before and the spirit was so strong. I honestly didn’t say a word, it was all her. She was able to open up to him and express that she was feeling the same way, she shared the story that I just shared with her and then they both committed to do the same thing together. To gain a relationship with Heavenly Father and to learn to trust him. It was exactly what he needed to hear. 

     After the phone call I looked at her and said, "Did you feel the spirit?" She smiled and said yes. We then started talking about how the Lord really does have a plan for everything. That her melt downs needed to happen so she could open up and so she could relate to Trevor. It also strengthened our relationship. It was just a huge miracle. I am really glad that she is here with him. I know that this is exactly what she needs to step out of her comfort zone so that she can be the amazing missionary the Lord is preparing her to become. 

     After that experience we have been having so much fun together, she is starting to open up to more people and sharing her testimony it’s awesome. I also feel like my question with Trevor got answered, we just need to help him gain a relationship with Heavenly Father. Good things are happening here in Carlton. I am so happy to be here. Also, our branch presidency got changed. Our new Branch President is President Ryan and I am super excited!

     That is the jist of this week! I can't believe how fast the time is flying by! I love Minnesota! I love you guys so much have a great week! Choose the right!

Love Sister Kendra Curtis