A week in Duluth!

Hello Family and Friends! 

     I have had a wonderful week in Duluth with Sister Simpson. It was everything we imagined! ha! But really I love that girl so much! We are such good friends it’s almost bad! Its really cool to see how much we have grown and changed from the time that we were in the MTC. The only thing that was kind of sad is that Sister Simpson has mono right now. She has had it for a couple of months now. It’s sad because she is such a hard worker and a really good missionary but she can’t do everything that she wants to because she is always sick and tired. She had to sleep quite a bit. Poor girl. But it was kind of a blessing for me because I got to have a lot of time to study. I am trying to finish the Book of Mormon before I go home and it’s has been going really good. So that has been a little blessing in disguise. But besides that Sister Simpson and I have had so much fun together! It’s fun that the Lord made it possible for us to be together. We have decided that we are official companions now because we have been with each other for 3 and a half weeks. We are going to change back with the other sisters on Wednesday because that is when our district meeting is. This week long exchange has been fun but also a little strange. As much as I love Sister Simpson, I can't wait to get back to my area and to be with Sister England again. I really do love Carlton and I love the people there. :)

     As for Carlton, I have only heard a little bit. Trevor is doing good. He opened up to the sisters about some word of wisdom problems and was able to get a priesthood blessing to help him stop. He is continuing to meet with the sisters 3 times a week and things are going good. They pushed back his baptism date to February 7th to better prepare himself. I am excited for him!

     David got the priesthood at church on Sunday and the Meet the Mormons showing is still going to be a big hit! The sisters were able to get the flyers mailed out to all the members. It’s going to be interesting to see just how many people actually end up coming. The Duluth ward is going to be having their own showing as well so we were able to talk to the bishop and tell them a little about how we are doing it. That will be good to have more people see it. The thing I really like about it is how we are turning it into a missionary opportunity. Not only are the members excited to see it for the first time but it helps them to branch out to others. I am really excited for Friday!

Dinner with a cute family!

Taco Bell with  a member!

     One thing that I have found that I think is super funny is every time I am told that I am getting transferred or that I have to leave an area, I get super bitter inside. I hate goodbyes. I really grow to love the people I serve and I don't want things to change. But then I get to the new area and I grow to love the people there just as much! That is exactly what happened here in Duluth. I was sad because my heart was is Carlton but then I got to meet the members and the investigators and I love them! I am really fortunate to have met all the people that I have here in Minnesota. 

Whitney - another amazing person I met in Minnesota!

     We were able to have a lesson with a girl named Libby. She is 11 years old and isn’t baptized with the rest of her family. She is just a little more stubborn and wants to make the decision to be baptized on her own in her own time which is great!. We were able to meet her and she is so funny! She says the funniest things and is super smart. In our first lesson we talked about repentance and baptism. We had her wear a backpack full of books and then showed her how repentance works. We took out one book at a time. Then we showed her how baptism works and we took the whole backpack away from her and told her about how baptism really is like a fresh start. She really liked the lesson. Then at the end we asked he if she would be baptized and she said yes. It was super neat. Her family was all very surprised. It was cool because she said it without hesitation, it’s like she had already made up the decision in her mind. She is preparing to be baptized on February 14th. 

     Then for our second lesson we had a super awesome lesson. We want to keep her lessons very entertaining because she gets bored really easy. So I had this great idea to use shaving cream and to draw out the plan of salvation on it. She loved it! She was paying attention the whole time and then at the end she was able to to draw it out herself. It was really fun and she is really excited for baptism. She told us that she wants to be in the sun forever with her family. She is so awesome! I love her! Hopefully I will be able to go to her baptism!

Libby drawing the Plan of Salvation with shaving cream.

     We got to meet a lot of awesome members here in Duluth. The Duluth ward is HUGE! We actually got to cross the boarder a couple times to go over to visit some members in Wisconsin. We went over to one members house and just helped them out with some things around the house. One of them included walking the dog. (#embark #no pun intended) It’s really strange walking a dog but hey we are here to help. No matter what it may be. Members really appreciate it since it is -20 outside. Someone has to do it!

Sister Simpson serving!

Service walking a dog #embark #nopunintended

     There is a lot of cool YSA people that are here in Duluth and it was fun to meet then and to teach them. There is also a really cool institute class that the YSA get to go to and we are invited as well. Something that would be really hard about being a YSA up here is there aren’t very many. It’s hard to stand up for your standards when you are the only one. I am so grateful for all of the great friends I have and the strength that they have been to me. Because a lot of people aren’t as blessed. It’s cool the effect that we have on others to be and to do good. Anyways the YSA are awesome here.  

     One thing that is super strange that they do up in this area is Facebook. The Duluth missionaries have Facebook to stay in contact with YSA and to find less actives in their ward because it is so big. Honestly, I don’t like it. But probably because I am so close to going home. It’s just to weird. I was using Sister Shumway’s account, but still. It is kind of cool though to see the success that the missionaries have been able to have here with it. It’s just one of those things I would really root on from a distance but not really do it myself. It makes it kind of hard to focus because you see a lot of random stuff. Whatever though. :)

     So here is my funny story for the week. One day, Sister Simpson and I were out getting ready to go stop by a less active. We looked at the house, confirmed the address was correct, and then we said a prayer. We said amen and got out of the car. All the sudden I said, "What the! Where did that polar bear come from?" He blended in so well, we couldn't even see him. He was in front of the very house that we needed to go to. We walked up and he seemed pretty friendly. But was barking like crazy!  The member wasn’t even home. 

Sister Simpson with the kitty!

     Then all the sudden this cat starts walking over to us. We didn’t quite understand why all the animals started flocking to us. The cat was so close, we realized that we needed to take advantage of the opportunity that was before us. **Side story: The Duluth zone has been doing this funny thing where you take "cat pictures". What you do is you take a picture with a cat and you hold it by the scruff of its neck. It doesn't count if you are just holding it. It has to be by the scruff. This challenge has been particularly hard for me because, number one, I hate cats, number two, I am allergic. But I am still willing to try.** We took Sister Simpson’s picture first and it was prime! We knew the elders would be impressed! Then it was my turn. I went to grab the little guy then all the sudden the polar bear started attacking me! Both paws up at whacked my shoulder! What the!? Totally uncalled for! Then the cat ran away and the moment was gone. The polar bear ruined it. 

     Well that’s all for this week! I am glad to be a missionary. I can’t believe how fast it goes by. Sister Simpson and I had a lot of pillow talk and it’s crazy all that happens in 18 months and how much we can change and grow. Well everyone. I love you have an awesome week! 

Peace and Blessings! :)

Sister Kendra Curtis

Warning.... 
Sister Simpson and I took way to many selfies... ha

# Embark in the Service of God

Dearest Family and Friends!

2015 Baby!

     Happy New Years! Can you believe that it is 2015!! Back to the FUTURE! hahaha This was a crazy week! A lot went on and miracles are happening in this area! I love the people here in this area! Carlton is the best!

     Trevor is doing so great. I can't believe it but it was a month ago yesterday that we met him walking down the street. He has changed so much in the last month. He is so happy! We were able to meet with him 3 more times last week. He has been having a hard time getting into the Book of Mormon. Its hard for him to understand. Last week we told him to read the introduction in the Book of Mormon. He then texted us at 2:00 am saying, "Sorry to text late but I did as asked in Moroni 10:3-5. I got this feeling, then randomly, as if someone had whispered it to me I heard, Almost there but not yet. I don't know what just happened when is the soonest we can meet up?"   We couldn't believe it! We then met with him the next day and had a really good lesson with him about scripture study. We wanted to help him get into the scriptures and to help him realize how it applies to him and how he can use it. We had an awesome lesson about Alma 32 and how right now he is planting this seed in his heart and it is up to him to help it to grow into something big that he can rely on. 
     This week was great for him but then Saturday night we got a text from him saying that his grandma found his Book of Mormon and that she wasn’t happy. She kept saying, Anyone but the mormons. We ended up calling him to help him through it. It was neat talking to him because anyone else at that point would have probably dropped us because it would be too hard. But he just kept telling us that he was frustrated that they didn’t understand and weren’t willing to listen. As we were talking to him all the sudden the thought came to my head. I said, Trevor maybe this is it. Maybe this is why Heavenly Father wanted you to wait. He knew it wouldn’t be easy and that this would happen. You should try again to pray, and this time specifically pray and ask is this worth it? Is it worth going though and I promise that you will get your answer. It was so weird the thought came into my head so fast and before I even knew what it was I was sharing it. I truly feel like in that moment the spirit was working through me. He is such a great kid! He came to church for the third time and we were all fasting that his families hearts would be softened. The sisters are going to be seeing him tonight to hear more about how things are going. I am excited to hear what is in store for him.

     This week Sister Shumway came to Carlton with me. She is from Star Valley, Wyoming. Our day was completely wonderful and we had a ton of fun. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! We were able to do some service, we got to see some less actives and we had lessons with our investigators. Another thing that we have been doing is going to anywhere and everywhere that will let us hang up our Meet the Mormons flyers. We are hoping it will be a pretty big thing. So far so good! :)

Exchanges with Sister Shumway!

Blow Pong!

     This week we were able to have our district P-day. I think this was the first time ever that the elders didn’t want to play basketball or sports!! MIRACLE! ha Instead we played a ton of games. We played this super funny game called Blow Pong. It’s kind of like four square, you all have a certain section of the table and if the ball goes of your section then you are out. It was a ton of fun we played it for a pretty long time. Then we played Sequence, Liars Dice, Spot it, Egyptian Rat Screw and Signs. It was a ton of fun! We have a really fun district right now and it’s always better when there are 2 sets of sisters! :)

     David was baptized this week! We were so excited for him. We had some good lessons with him this week and he was really excited. The part that he was most excited for is that all of the sins of his past are going to be washed away and that he truly is going to get a fresh start. He also said that he is excited to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost so that he will be able to make good decisions in the future. It was a really special day and we are happy for him. 

Exchanges with Sister Shumway!

David was baptized!

     It was funny because the water wasn’t very warm. We kept having to turn the water on and off to make it warm. So we decided that it might be a good idea to boil a pot of water and to throw it in there so we totally did that!

     Also, today is the day that we find out about transfers.  But actually yesterday we got a call from President Forbes telling us that we aren’t getting transferred but that we are going to be going on a week long exchange. Sister Shumway is going to be coming down to Carlton to be with Sister England and I am going to be going up to Duluth to be with Sister Simpson. Sister England has been struggling with anxiety and depression. President Forbes is trying to figure out the best thing to do for her right now so that she can continue to serve. Sister Shumway's last companion had depression as well so president it going to see if this will help the situation. Honestly, I don't know what my feelings are about all of this. It definitely wasn’t expected. I am sad to leave Carlton. I love that area so much, I love the members, I love our less actives and we have some really awesome lessons planned with our investigators. I’m sad I am going to be missing it but hopefully it will only be for the week. But it will be really good for Sister England. It will help her to have the confidence that she can do this and that she will be able to take over the area when I am gone. I am happy that I am going to be with Sister Simpson though. It’s finally what we have both been asking for for the last 17 months! Crazy how the Lord really does have a plan through it all! So starting today I will be in Duluth for a week then we will talk to President Forbes and we will then decide what to do from there.   

Rosie!  I just can't get enough of her!

     I guess my last thought has to do with the new youth theme! EMBARK! "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." D&C 4:2 Check out the video! Its so awesome! I just love the church so much! It’s cool to see how they are totally embracing social media. ....secretly it gets me excited for when I get home. :) This has actually been something that I want to focus on this year. Being aware of opportunities to serve. #embark. Its such a great thing to know that even thought I won’t "technically" be serving the Lord anymore, there is always an opportunity to embark in the service of God. 

     I love you all! The church is true! I am so happy to be here! I know that the Lord places us in certain areas and with certain people for a reason! I am so grateful that we can trust in the Lord with everything. Not everyone has that knowledge.

Love, Sister Kendra Curtis 

Hazel let me borrow her hat!

Lunch with Sampson.

District Meeting!

The blanket for President and Sister Forbes!

Run,Run, Rudolph!

Hello Family and Friends!

     Just because I know everyone is probably wondering, YES! This Christmas was way better then last year's! There was no dog or dog vomit! What more could you ask for! Merry Christmas Everyone! It’s crazy to think that this is my last Christmas away from home. My time here is truly flashing before my eyes, but I'm not going to be talking about that. This week was so wonderful. I'm sad the season is over. But I am looking forward to the New Year. It’s a time to set goals and make plans to have things turn out better then they did in the past year. I don't know how I could possibly top this past year, but hey, I'm up for the challenge. Sister England and I have been sharing a new video with the members now that Christmas is over. The video is called, New Year's: Look Not Behind Thee. It is really great and it’s a good way to kick off the new year and to think about what we need to leave behind this year. 

     But back to Christmas, I was starting to jump ahead! This week was so much fun! We were able to do lots of fun things this week. We were able to go with a less active family down to Duluth to go see Bentleyville which is a huge light display! But on the way we decided to stop by another place which was on "Park Point", some lady did all of these pretty lights in her yard and then it went out to the beach and I didn't even realize this but the lake has these huge waves like the ocean! It was the coolest thing to see and the lights just made it even prettier. It was a really great way to know the family better. Then we went to hurry and go see Bentleyville before it was time for us to go home and right as we got there the lady looked at us and said, "You know the lights are turning off in 5 minutes." Oh no! We came all this way and didn't even get to see it. Then the mom was like well if you want you can try to run through it, Sister England and I looked at each other and said okay! So we hurried and we booked it through the whole thing. It was so magical! It totally felt like I was in Home Alone, "Run Run Rudolph!" haha! We got about 3/4 of the way through then the lights flipped off. But we didn't know any different, so we loved it and we still managed to get some pictures! Now we just have an excuse to come back.

Lights at Park Point in Duluth!

Park Point with a less active family we are working with :)

Bentleyville in Duluth!

Cute little Lindsay!

     Then we were also able to go on a Sleigh Ride with our Branch President and his family. It was a lot of fun and we were able to get to meet some of the non members of the family, well the in-laws but it was also a good experience because they haven't been very open to the church in the past so it was good to talk to them. We had a ton of fun! There was a sleigh pulled by some horses! And a little sled on the back and even a zip line. We were able to do all of it because our mission president gave us permission. It was kind of weird to do it as a missionary but it was a lot of fun. Roise is always the star of the show she is so funny. There was this big discussion between the mom and the dad about whether or not she could go on the zip line she ended up going because everyone practically voted and it was hilarious. She had no expression at all. Kids are the best! It was so much fun! What a neat family tradition.

Sleigh Ride with the Branch President and his family!

Rosie!

Me on the zip line, don't worry we got permission :)

Rosie on the zip line

Caleb was being nosiy during a
Christmas program so I
was helping him say quite the
camera was a huge success.

     Christmas Eve was fun and a little strange. We went to a couple different members houses and then one of the members asked us if we would like to come with them to a Methodist service because their family members were in the program. We went and it was really beautiful but I am grateful that instead of all gathering at the church that we are able to gather as a family. I feel the spirit is way stronger in the home. But then again it is neat to see the things that we have in common and how we truly are all celebrating the same thing. The gift of Jesus Christ. 

     Christmas morning was fun! It was super relaxing this year which was nice and much needed! We had a fun time together and a fun time at members homes. We truly are so blessed to be here in the Carlton Branch. 

Our Christmas Jamies!

Look who got Footie Jammies too!! :):) Happy New years to us!

     Then I got to talk to my sweet family! I love them so much! That always feels like the quickest 40 minutes of my life. But it was so great to see everyone and hear how they are doing. It’s crazy to think that in less than 2 months I will be able to give them all a hug! SO WEIRD! I am so blessed with the best family! I love all of them so very much!

Skyping my Family! YAY!

"our cute little Christmas stockings"

We found Pugmire on Christmas day! Santa must have left him!

     Then on top of all the magic that comes with the holidays, we were able to meet 3 times with both Trevor and David. Trevor is doing wonderful he truly is like a sponge, he is just soaking in everything we tell him. Right now, he has a baptismal date set for the 24th of January. Things are looking good so far. He really enjoyed the plan of salvation. It meant a lot to him to know that there is a reason why we are here and that we have a place that we are trying to go. I love to see the light that has come into his life. When we met him he had very little hope and now there truly is a whole new light.

     David is doing great as well, he passed his baptismal interview and he is going to be getting baptized this Saturday. We are really excited for him. He is taking some big steps. He has totally quit smoking and he has been reading from the Book of Mormon everyday. He is in Mosiah right now and he really likes it. It should be a really great experience. Hopefully he will be able to have some friends and family attend. 

Christmas Lunch with the Martindale's and
some other members of our branch!

     Then one last thing before I have to go. Sister England and I came up with a branch activity. Our mission president has a copy of Meet the Mormons so we are going to have a showing up here! No one in our branch has seen it before because it didn't show in the theaters up here. We are turning it into a huge missionary opportunity. We made these flyers and we are going to start handing them out to less actives and investigators and the Branch is going to put it up on local bulletins and also in the local paper. Hopefully we have a good turn out. The showing is going to be on January 16th. Everyone is looking forward to it! We hope to get some new investigators from it too!

     Well I don't know if I have said it before but this is truly such an awesome area. We are totally here for a reason. Sister England and I were talking about it and it truly doesn't make sense to put us here, because they already shut down the area, there is going to be a huge drop in missionaries especially when I go home so it’s really strange to be opening areas at this time and we are the only sisters serving in a branch. But aside from all of that, the Lord had a bigger plan. He knew the people we would see and the people we would touch. And I am so glad to be here! I love the gospel and I love teaching it to others! My time is up, I better go. I love you all so much and I hope you have a Happy New Year! Make it a good one! Peace and Blessings! :)

Love Sister Kendra Curtis

My gift from SAWYER! I love that boy!

Cedrick found his way back to Minnesota!