update

Sister Curfew did get transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska.  She can receive letters at her apartment but packages need to go through the mission office.  So, plan on a delay for packages.
Address for Packages:
Sister Ashley Curfew
Nebraska Omaha Mission
11027 Martha St
Omaha, NE 68144-3107

Address to her apartment
Sister Ashley Curfew
5344 R st. Apt 3
Lincoln NE 68504

If you want to send a package call me first. I'm trying to get a members address for her to receive packages faster

December 9, 2013

Dear Family,

I'm glad to hear that things are going well at home. Yeah the mission office will take forever and a day to get our packages, because they stopped forwarding them. So I probably won't get the package you sent until after Christmas. Oh well.

This week was full of adventures. I've learned a lot. 1. Fasting works. 2. I'm just like Dad. 3. Prayer really does change the night to day. 4. God shows his love for me through food. We have an awesome relationship. :)

1. I have gained a bigger testimony of fasting this week because it was fast Sunday last week and I fasted for some help in adjusting to the area. There has been some seriously divine help this whole week. I've never adjusted so quickly to anything. It was crazy. By Tuesday I felt like I had been here for a couple months and for the most part I knew what I was doing. It was incredible! 2. I was talking to my companion earlier this week and I realized I sounded just like Dad. It was so funny. I was like oh my goodness...I am my Fathers daughter.  Weird. 3. Prayer changes everything. We have been praying for the Elders in our area and our ward mission leader because they didn't have a really great experience with previous Sisters here and therefore disliked Sister missionaries a lot. But we started praying for opportunities to serve them and that they would have success in everything they did this week. And it happened. In the meantime we were able to become best friends with the Elders and the ward mission leader.  I have never seen unity happen so fast. It was crazy.  I am still in shock. Also our ward mission leader has the coolest Star Wars stockings (he got them from target) We had a Star Wars nerd moment. It was pretty great. :) 4. So at random times during the day I will be like man I really want some gingersnap cookies or I want a cornbread muffin so bad. Or I want some lemonade. :) They're just random craving that I have but I don't have time to bake and I didn't have any lemonade. But we went to a members house for dinner this week and she was like "I felt like making cornbread muffins I hope that's alright with you?" I was like Uh Yeah that's alright with me!! :) Then the Relief Society president gave me a huge bag of gingersnap cookies...she was like the recipe made extra for some reason. Eat them. I was like oh my goodness there is a God. :) Then the Elders gave me a glass of Lemonade randomly. It was just so funny to me. :) It just makes me realize that Heavenly Father is very aware of us. Even if it's just me and my silly cravings for food.

On to more spiritual things. I was committed by my Sister Trainer Leader to get a blessing every transfer. So I got a blessing this week from my ward mission leader and it was so great. :) He blessed me with confidence and that I wouldn't be shy to share my testimony with His children. He said that I have a happy spirit that is needed here in this area. He said that missionaries here need to learn something from me. He blessed me with love for my companion and to teach her. He said that my family would be safe. And to keep strengthening my testimony. I love getting priesthood blessings because they are Heavenly Father speaking to me through his servant.  I never thought of it that way and it definitely made it a lot more personal. :) It was just a very needed spiritual boost. :)  

This week has been amazing and great. Hopefully we can keep it up. It's been really cold and I've been getting really good and driving in the snow. Even though according to my companion I am  grandma driver. But whatever. :) haha I love you guys so much and I hope everything will go great this week.

Love you!

-Sister Curfew

December 2, 2013

Dear Family,

I'm glad you all had a great Thanksgiving! It didn't even feel like Thanksgiving here, which I was grateful for. Seems like you guys had a blast. I missed mom's Pecan Pie. Mmm Best pie ever. I hope everything works out well for Christmas traveling and stuff. I am also glad that you enjoyed the C's. Oh man I just love them so much, they're really changed my life in so many ways. Sometimes I wonder if I was sent to Le Mars for people to teach or the people to teach me. I think it was a little of  both. :)

Well yes I have been transferred. This was the hardest thing of my life. I did not want to leave Le Mars at all. I didn't want to leave the other missionaries in our ward. I didn't want to get a new ward mission leader. I didn't want to leave my District or Zone. But I've gotten a couple of days to adjust so that's good. :) My new companion is Sister S. She is from Ogden. Hahaha. :) It was really hard to say good bye to Sister K. We did so much together and even though we didn't like each other at first. we learned how to love each other and now we are best friends. It was especially hard leaving the members. I could not stop crying when I figured out I was getting transferred. We had Thanksgiving dinner with two of my favorite member families in Le Mars. Yes we had two dinners...FAT!!! But I really like pumpkin pie. :) Oh man packing was a beast. I hadn't packed in 6 months and I had acquired a lot of stuff....ha that was fun. But anyway. After much praying and scripture study I am finally coming to terms that Lincoln is my new area. There are a ton of African Americans here. A lot of our area is in the ghetto. Walking down the street is sketchy! It's a fun adventure, everyday. Sister S is really great. She is really organized. She is 19 and she came out straight out of high school and has been out for 3  months. Her last companion didn't finish training her so along with Senior Companion I am also Follow-Up Training her. It's weird to have a lot more responsibility. I enjoyed being Junior Companion. I didn't have to do anything! But at the same time it's good. This area is struggling a little bit. But it has a ton of potential! I have full confidence that Lord put me in this area for a reason. Even though at first I didn't want to be here.  So our plan is to work extra hard, be exactly obedient and I know that Lord will  bless this area. :)

I've gained a huge testimony of comfort and peace that comes from scripture study. Yesterday during personal study I just felt better. I wasn't reading anything specific that dealt with my situation I just felt better. Which is something I really needed. :) I'm excited to see what happens in this area as it progresses more and more. Right now I am just praying the ward members will like us and trust us because right now they don't. I am also praying that I will love it here. :) Sorry this is a short email. A crazy amount has happened and I can't remember anything. Sorry!

Love you guys,

Love, Sister Curfew

November 25, 2013

Dear Family,

Happy Thanksgiving!! :) Mom, the book 21 days closer to Christ is one of my favorites. I borrowed it from Sister Roseman, and I read it in college and it changed my life. I love it. :) One of my favorite talks from conference is the Like a Broken Vessel talk. We share it a lot with people who we teach.Thankfully transfers are on Friday! So I get to eat with one of my favorite families here in Le Mars. Tender Mercy! :)

Well, this week we were faced with much opposition. We had 5 investigators tell us that they didn't want to meet with us anymore. Oh my goodness that was the hardest thing ever. It was seriously like one right after each other. It was very discouraging, and very upsetting. But we pulled through. Then one of our investigators, P, was given Anti-Mormon material. It was this video about the Bible vs The Book of Mormon. I was like seriously Satan, you play dirty! Thankfully she hasn't watched it yet, but we couldn't convince her to not watch it. She was like I need to find out for myself. So we watched the Restoration video with her and explained that when we hear truth the Spirit testifies to us of the truth. She even was like, wow this is so peaceful. So we're hoping that she will be able to know which one is true and which one is not. Ah man. Although it was 18 degrees outside no one let us in when we went tracting. But it wasn't that cold. Once your face goes numb it's all good. :) haha

On the brighter side of things we were able to go visiting teaching with a sister in our ward named Sister B. She is quiet, but she is a perfect example of someone who desires to follow Christ. I love hearing her teach. :) Her visiting teaching partner wasn't able to come with her so she called us. So we went and saw a Less Active, named D, and we haven't been able to get an appointment with her in about a month! So this week if finally happened! Halleluiah! But it was really cool because Sister B was just like "Hey, why haven't you come to church?" I was like oh my gosh she said it out loud...but D was like you know I don't know. I need to come I am slacking, please help me. Then Sister B was like okay, you get a ride with Sue to church and then we'll bring you home and eat dinner. And D came to church. All we did was bear our testimonies and read a scripture, but really the member missionary, Sister Burrell, got this Less Active to come to church! Woooooooooo! That was really neat to watch how special Visiting Teaching really is. :)

There is this place in Le Mars that's for victims of any kind.  It's a sketchy place... We have two women from our ward in there. (Sister K and I call it the Lock-Up. I don't know why) They have gone through a lot and are still going through a lot. We don't like to go there without a priesthood holder but we couldn't get one to come with us so we went with another sister in our ward. That was a powerful lesson. The Spirit was so strong, and we could feel love of the Savior for those two women. He really does know what's going on their lives, how they're feeling and so on. We sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" to them. The Spirit testifies of truth so well through music. :) I love lesson like those.

It was really hard saying goodbye to the C's on Wednesday. It's crazy to think that it has been so long since I've been here. I guess we really never know for sure it is really goodbye, but we're pretty sure. The people here are just crazy awesome. :)

Although this week was rough because of the investigators, it's been interesting to see how the Lord helps us out. We have been committed to say our prayers out loud. I don't if I already told you this. But I felt my prayers becoming a little stronger this week as we have had to rely even more upon Christ. :) Thankfully, He is able to help us out in all times, whether we are in need or not. I love this gospel. I love telling everyone about the Book of Mormon. I love being an instrument in God's hands. Even though I struggle with so many things and am so far from being the perfect missionary I know that as long as I am worthy to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost I have no need to fear. :) Love you all. Have a great Thanksgiving. :)

Love, Sister Curfew

November 18, 2013

Dear Family,

The Co's are beyond excited to meet you as well. Especially Sister C since she talked to mom on the phone. That was weird because we had brought an investigator over and so I was right there when mom called...haha. I'm excited for the holidays. Not so much Thanksgiving actually...mostly because I was informed that I will most likely be transferred seeing as I have been in this area for 6 months, and transfers are the day before Thanksgiving so I will be eating with members that I don't know at all. But if I don't end up being transferred we are eating with a family here in town because the C's will be in Idaho with their family. It should be fun. I honestly don't know if we will be working that day. I can't imagine us working...but you never know.
Ha I knew you were going to say something about Christmas and how people celebrate it too soon. Haha well, we put up the tree with the C's because they wanted Sister K and I to do it. I was shocked though because no one cried. I feel like whenever we put up a tree at home, mom or someone always ends up crying. Anyway they turned on the Christmas music (church music of course) and I was like oh man, it's too early for this. But it was still touching. :) Also their Christmas tree rotates, it's pretty sweet. Putting lights on that was a piece of cake. ;) I'm glad you were able to have a good time in Las Vegas...even if it's super sketchy. Ah man poor Aidan I'm glad he's doing a little better. Do you and mom get any sleep with him whimpering? What can he eat?

Well this week was the usual crazy missionary week. We had a sick Sister K. Then we had exchanges with the coolest Sister Trainer Leaders this mission has ever known. :) We taught a bunch of lessons that day, so it was pretty incredible. I personally got some one on one time with one of my best friends her name is Sister V she's from St. George. Oh man she's just awesome and a great example of a  missionary. She has taught me how to have a blast on a mission while respecting the dignity of our calling. :) Our recent convert S is doing great. We went to see her and her scriptures were all marked up and she was explaining the tree of life to us. I just can't get over this because she's 11! She really is like this great little peacemaker in her home. I feel lucky to even know her. :) I heard some unfortunate news about another missionary I was really close to who was sent home for disobedience. I was devastated! I was seriously mourning the loss of this missionary. But the Lord knew what I needed to hear and I was reading in the Ensign the talk by President Uchtdorf "You Can Do It Now." from the priesthood session. This talk was so  powerful to me, which I love because that's how I know that Heavenly Father knows what I am struggling with and helps me out. Woo! It just talks about how we all fail, we all stumble, and we can all get back up. "Our destiny is not determined by the numbers of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward." I was filled with hope. :)
Anyway well J one of our investigators texted us before church yesterday and said that he didn't want to meet with us anymore. The last lesson we had with him we talked about baptism. So we were expecting some opposition. We had promised him that if he came to church then he would get an answer. This is the hardest part of the mission. Seeing people know and feel of the Spirit, gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon and then run from it. Heartbreaking. But on the more positive note we met a lot of new people this week and people in the community are talking about us. :) A lot of the people we come in contact with are like"yeah we've heard about you around town." Creepy...but cool at the same time. We also had dinner with a family last named the B's they are converts.  They were HILARIOUS. :) Some families hide the fact that they're not perfect and try to make it seem like they are. But this family was so real and so down to earth. It was so refreshing! :) Oh my goodness their family was just so funny. They have twin boys about Daemian's age and one of chimed into the lesson we were having, which was about striving to do our best and stuff, and he said "Mom, it's okay, no one is perfect everyone farts." haha Oh man we all laughed for a long time after that. (Sorry if that was to irreverent, I thought is was funny.) 
Although things like J happen, at the same time we meet people  who lift our spirits and encourage us. My favorite thing about being out here is connecting with people and being able to be my real self around everyone I meet. I know scary thought. But it works out here. :)

I love you all and I hope everything is going well. Keep praying and communicating with our Father in Heaven and he will help us out in all that we do. :)

Love, Sister Curfew

November 13, 2013

Dear family,

Sorry this is so late. The library was closed Monday and then my companion was sick all day yesterday so we were unable to go out. So now I'm emailing. Sister K is feeling better. :)

Crazy to hear about Aidan! I hope he gets feeling better soon. I will  continue to study the scriptures to gain an understanding of the Atonement as best I can.. :) Which is working.

This week has been good. We met a lady named L. and her brother and sister in law are preparing for a mission and are in the MTC right now as Senior couples. That's crazy right?! We are going back, and she is feeding us dinner! :) We had an investigator of ours decline the baptismal invitation even though she had felt the Spirit and knew it was what she needed to do. That was hard and upsetting. But we did our best as servants of the Lord. :)

We had an awesome FHE with J. and some members in Le Mars. J. opened up and really enjoyed being taught by "real people" evidently we're fake haha. :) The lesson was awesome he sounded just like Joseph Smith. We committed him to follow Joseph Smith's example and pray to know the truth of what we are teaching him. :) We are meeting with him so I look forward to hearing about his experience.

We had this crazy day on Wednesday. We received at least 7 or 8 promptings that led to nothing...we could tell that we were being tested to see if we would actually follow our promptings. Thankfully we passed. Haha.

We also attended a baptism in our ward ,a guy named L. who the Elders are teaching. It was so powerful. He was so pumped about the Book of Mormon. I loved what he said. "Every time I read I am quick to underline something that will help me or one of my friends." How inspiring is that. He will make a great missionary. :) It's moments like these where I LOVE being a missionary. Seeing people change is the greatest thing ever.

This week I'm working on be exactly obedient. I learned that it is possible to be EXACTLY Obedient through Repentance and the Atonement of Christ. Repentance is our theme this month as missionaries and has already made a huge impact in my life. I know that Repentance is a change of heart. "It's forming a fresh view of God, ourselves, and the world." I never realized the importance of repenting daily until now. I would encourage you to read about repentance in Preach my Gospel, and repent daily as well.

Sorry this letter is so rushed. I love you all. I'm glad Aidan is doing well. Have a good week.

I love you lots,

Love, Sister Curfew

November 4, 2013

Dear Fam,

You got snow! That's crazy. Well I guess that's not super abnormal for Utah weather. It hasn't snowed here yet. It is supposed to evidently tomorrow but the weather here is to unpredictable. We do observe Daylight Saving Time. The extra hour of sleep was really nice. Even though my internal clock woke me up at what my body thought was 6:20. It starts getting dark here around 4:30ish and 5:00 which makes missionary work really hard. Once the sun goes down people think it's to late for anyone to knocking on the door. So we are praying and trying to figure out different things to do at night. Well everyone is harvesting so the cornfields are no long cornfields. They are just fields. It has been really cool to watch them harvest. I never knew how difficult it is to harvest...it's quite the process. I will send you a picture next week. I've got to take one first...For Halloween President didn't give us any restrictions. He just said to follow the Spirit and fellowship with members. So we built a fire in a fire pit with the C's and roasted marshmallows and it was really cool because one by one the the 5 families in Le Mars came over and we just partied it latter-day saint style. :) haha So Brother C and I were talking family history and turns out we're related! Crazy. It's through Olive Durfee...if you have any questions you can get a hold of him...I can't remember. ha sorry.

That's cool that you're running another Ragnar. You're so awesome at running. I miss just going for a run. We only have 30 min to exercise and 20 min is cardio and 10 min of strength and stretching. So our time is scrunched. :)

The work here is going well. :) Our baptism did not fall through and it was a really cool experience.  Her non member father attended the baptism so that was REALLY cool! Then her confirmation in sacrament meeting yesterday was powerful. She is only 11 but she is so smart and so responsive to the Spirit. When we asked her about what she felt when she prayed about the Book of Mormon she said "I felt a pang of pleasure." haha I just really liked the description. :) There weren't very many people at the baptism because it was announced poorly, but she was welcomed right into the ward on Sunday. Hopefully the ward will keep fellow shipping her.

This week I did get sick and we had to stay home. But we taught a lesson over the phone and got our area book updated so it wasn't a total waste of a day. But I am feeling much better now! Stress+no sleep=sickness. But all is well now.

We also had Zone Conference on Halloween. It was 8 hours long! That may have been one of the longest meetings I have ever been too. It was really cool though. President Weston wants us to be praying vocally for personal prayers. So Sister K and I have to pray in different rooms. haha I really like praying out loud better though because one I don't fall asleep, two it makes me feel like Heavenly Father is actually listening, and three the Spirit is stronger.  It is really cool :) He also said to beware of pride. Which led to me read the Beware of Pride talk by President Benson. Still working on pride...it's a sin "that doth easily beset me" haha. Progression not perfection right?

We received a lot of instruction on how to get the members better involved in the work. Which is SO DIFFICULT! But we'll figure it out eventually right? :)

I really liked what you said about self analyzing our actions. If we are focusing so much on what we need to better then we will never see our improvement. That's something I am really grateful that Sister K is my companion. Sometimes when we get out of a lesson I am like shoot, I should've done this and this or I should've been said this and this and this. She is really good and keeping me focused on the positive.
Dad, you should email me all of your thoughts on the Atonement. Because I just am not understanding it as well as I think I should. 

So a couple of cool stories that happened to us this week. One we were walking out of Christian Needs, which is a place we serve at, and this guy comes walking to our car. We rolled down the window and he was like are you sisters from the Mormon church? Of course we said yes and he was like "I go to that church! I haven't been since my son got blessed a couple years ago. I need to go back. I live in Le Mars. What is the address to the church?" Holy cow! we were so blown away. God sent us a Less Active. :) We had to be in the right place at just the right time. God is a God of miracles. :) He knows his sheep.

Then we had a lady who we met last week and we were able to take a couple priesthood holders to go and give her a priesthood blessing. It's so cool because when she feels the Spirit she gets goosebumps. During and after the blessing she had very obvious goosebumps. I just thought that was really awesome. :)

Another cool thing is Sister C bought us fabric and we are all making a quilt together. Sister C is the most patient person I have ever seen when it comes to crafts and sewing.  And we all know that I am anything but patient. So it has been really neat to have Sister C deal with my impatience and teach me how to go slow and then the mistakes I were making wouldn't have happened. She's so great. I was meant to live with these members. They always have so much to teach me. :)

Well I love you all. Thanks for all of your support. Thank you for keeping me in your prayers, don't forget to include Sister K as well. :)

Love you,

Sister Curfew

Pictures October 2013

She loves Sharks, She found this at the Trail Center and she said she refrained from buying it.

October 28, 2013

This week I'm working on using ALL of my time wisely and making sure all of my thoughts and actions are connected to me being a representative of Jesus Christ. :) Which is hard, but I know it's things I need to work on to increase my personal righteousness as a missionary.

 

This week was really good. I'm completely exhausted. In a good way. We had an incredible lesson with this lady named P. She does daycare in her home and she is unhappy with her church and she just feels like there is more. Well it's probably because there is. :) haha But, when we taught her she looked at me and just asked me "why are there so many churches?" I love it when investigators ask questions. Sister K and I then taught the best lesson we've ever taught in Le Mars. By we I mean the Spirit taught of course. It was so cool. She wasn't able to come to church this week but should be coming to church next week, she was really excited when we told her about it. I love teaching people who are prepared. We taught an investigator who was not prepared and she was just like yeah please don't ever come back. But that's alright. :)

I was also asked this week to give a training in District Meeting. My topic was "Why we invite investigators to be baptized on the first lesson." So that was scary and really stressful. But it went well, our district participated really well and the Spirit was there. I committed them in each lesson to teach like the Savior. But yeah I think I'm finally getting this teaching thing down. Still struggling with some things like flowing well and stuff, but I'll get there. I was just thankful I didn't look like a fool!

Sister K sang at a funeral again this week. We sang with some other members of the ward and it sounded really good.  A lot of people keep passing away in our ward. It's weird. But it was neat because we sang I Know that My Redeemer Lives. No matter how many times you sing it, saying the words I KNOW that my Redeemer lives out loud just brings peace. :)

So one day I decided that I really wanted to go service tracting in a certain area in Le Mars. Sister Kwas like whatever you're crazy we've already tracted that area. But we did it anyway. And it was so cool because we met this lady Lynette. We asked if we could do anything for her and she just started crying. I was like Ah man, we didn't even start teaching yet! But it turns out she was crying because she was having trouble with her back and she was also in so much pain and just needed help to the dishes and vacuuming. L kept saying over and over again "You're Godsend". When we went back the next to do help her out we sat down and started talking. We asked her if she knew who we were and what we did, she was like "yes I know of the Mormon missionaries and what they do, and in the past I have always turned them away but not you two." Crazy right?! The Spirit really shows us where we need to be to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters. Good thing because otherwise we would be lost. Anyway we ended up teaching her the Restoration and we are going back today with some priesthood holders to give her a blessing. So that should be a great experience. :)

Also, an investigator S passed her baptismal interview on Sunday!! So she will be getting baptized on Friday. :) We're really excited for her.

Then J our other awesome investigator came to church! Woo! He also came with the C's and us to a bonfire and our ward mission leaders house and that was really fun for him. Sometimes I forget how important fellow-shipping is.  It's great, he said he was having a bad week (probably because his mom threw away his Book of Mormon, yeah she does NOT like us...) so it was good to see him cheer up a little bit.

Yesterday Sister K and I sang in church. A couple weeks ago we prayerfully considered a song we wanted our congregation to hear. So we sang the song called Blessings. We were so scared because it was a little bit above our level of talent. Let's be real here I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to singing...But it was incredible. The Spirit was definitely with us when we sang. I love the effect of music.

Also on Friday we did 9 hours of service, I really enjoy using chainsaws. :) I don't enjoy using a wood chipper those are scary! I thought it was going to eat my hand. We did this at the families yard that got hit by a tornado. Needless to say when we got home we couldn't move. And still can't. But yeah.

Man we did a lot of stuff this week. It's been so crazy. But good. :) I love being here. Things are going well.

I love you all. Good luck with things at home. I hope you have a fun Halloween as ninjas. That should be exciting. We actually don't have to go in early that night we can do stuff on Halloween. :) WOO!

Sorry this email is so jumbled and crazy. But I love you all. Still loving the scriptures, sometimes when I read I feel like why hasn't anyone shown me how awesome this book is before! I must not have paid much attention growing up...my bad. Well I will leave you with the lyrics of hymn that impacted me this week "He lives to guide me with his eye. He lives to comfort me when faint. He lives to hear my soul's complaint. He lives to silence ALL my fears. He lives to wipe away my tears. He lives to calm my troubled heart." I can testify that our Savior died and now lives to help us out on our mortal journey on this earth. I know I need to rely on him and use his precious Atonement. I know he knows my thoughts and my heart. I encourage everyone who reads this email to pray about how the Savior feels about you. :)

 

Love, Sister Curfew

October 21, 2013

Dear family,

The missionaries there already have IPads! What?! Well tell headquarters to send them to us! So, no we haven't yet been issued Ipads. I honestly thought it was a rumor. Ah man. I'm jealous of those missionaries! I've heard one of the ways they are going to hasten the work is through social media. We're going to be doing a lot of stuff on Mormon.org. Also we should be getting a missionary facebook profile where we can share spiritual thoughts and then the members can share that with their non members friends. So eventually that will come into place in our mission. Right now we're going dinosaur style with our dinky planners...oh well life moves on. I'm pretty pumped for the winter clothes package, it's freezing here. It's good though because it motivates me to run in the morning so I can feel at least some heat. My companion and I accidentally left our window open one night...BAD ACTIVITY! It was really hard to get out our warm beds that morning.

There is an Elder here who is in our ward with us and he also went to Utah State so, when it was warm, we were talking about how we could do anything because we survived the Logan weather.  But were not so sure anymore. I'm also glad that Mom is close to the Spirit. Whenever I would be having a bad day back home without fail Mom would always make contact with me. I thought it was just Mom super powers, but let's be real it's the Spirit. :) I liked what you said about the trusting the feelings you get. I was told once that if there is something you feel right about, just do it. :) I liked that a lot, I feel like I take to much counsel from my fears.

 

Well this week was good. Just like any other week.  Oh, sister K and I didn't get transferred. Doing missionary work in Le Mars. ;) We had to teach the Law of Chastity...that's always exciting, or awkward whichever way you want to look at it. :) Haha

We did have some awesome little miracles happen to us this week. :) So as I've probably told you there are a lot of churches in Le Mars. Well we felt prompted to go start doing service at this place called Christian Needs. We didn't know that all of the churches kind of put it together and work on it together. But they let us come and help them, and then once a week the employees that work there get together in a meeting and tell the churches what they've been doing with the supplies and donations. They also happened to put in their presentation that two Mormon sisters were now helping there. :) Now everyone knows that there are two sister missionaries in town. Watch out! hehe :) Then we decided to help out with a church called "Rejoice" and we call it our rival church...because it's a branch off of LDS church...so we met a lot of excommunicated Mormons that night. That was interesting. Anyway they put on a huge dinner for everyone in the community. The pastor came up to us and was like "Oh I heard there were two Mormons in town (He must not know any of the members) doing good works." Slowly but surely we are getting well known. I'm grateful that service softens peoples hearts because we are meeting a lot of new people who are a bit more friendly towards us. Which is always good. :) 

 

And I received one of the coolest compliments from an investigator ours J. After we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and we were getting ready to leave he was like can I say something? And we're like um yeah of course! He was said Sister Curfew, I really learn a lot from you when you teach. You're real and share why these things are so personal and important to you. That was a huge tender mercy. I've been struggling and still struggling finding the balance between being me and being a missionary.  I have a different personality. I don't like being serious. I like having fun and enjoying myself. I don't want to be like some other missionary. I want to be me, with Christlike qualities that help me become closer to the Spirit. I've been feeling like to be a focused sacred missionary you have to be boring! That's not true. At least I don't think it is. J's comment was a good reminder that my personality and teaching style has been matched up with the people of Le Mars. That's why the Lord called me to the Nebraska Omaha Mission. That's why President Weston sent me to Le Mars and that's why Sister K and I meet people who are specifically prepared for us.

 

Oh we also sang at a funeral. Sister W heard Sister K and I sing when she came with us to see a Less Active. So she signed us up to sing... haha. :) We sang Oh my Father with her. It's a beautiful song. :) Then we are singing on Sunday as well. Sister C bought sheet music to one of my favorite songs. It's called Blessing by Laura Story. :) It's a powerful song. One of my favorite lines is "What if our greatest disappointments or the aching's of this life are a revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy." How cool is that?!  Well I love you and I look forward to emailing you next week and in about a month being able to Skype you guys. :) Love you!

 

Love, Sister Curfew,

P.S. While doing service I had an allergic reaction to dust/cats. Dad passed on his allergy gene to me! :( I've had to start taking Clartin, just thought I would let you know.

P.S.S. Feed the missionaries!

P.S.S.S Go on team ups with the missionaries (Especially B, if they're Elders.)

October 14, 2013

Dear Family/B,

That was a REALLY hilarious email. I loved it. I appreciate that you used the phrase Awko Taco. :) and Mum? Since when were we British?? You've got to lay off the Doctor Who. I love that your memory of the homecoming dance was the food, rather than the date! You're such a guy! Wait, you're a Junior? I thought you were a sophomore? I'm confused. How old are you?! Also, I loved all the Lord of the Ring quotes. I don't truly know how nerdy I am until I speak with you and can follow along with what you're saying. I'm jealous that you're taking cello classes. When I get home, I'll have to take some too!!

 

Well this week has been interesting. But great. My faith was again strengthened. Again. Man alive this mission thing is crazy. Crazy great. :) We didn't do a lot of teaching this week. Appts fell through. We can only see Less Actives with a member with us. So that 's been really hard, because members in Le Mars are few in numbers and really busy. It's hard to coordinate a thousand schedules, but I guess it's good practice for the rest of my life right? It was just one of those weeks that was slow. But it was good. It also got chilly. Lame! The members fed us lots of soup. Mmmm.

 

Sunday was the best day that has every happened to me. We got our investigator J to come to church. We asked him and he said no. But then he called back and he was like well I guess I could go and he came and enjoyed it. It was fast Sunday and he was like I want to go up and bear my testimony! He didn't have time, but still how cool is that. When he went to gospel principles he was just asking question after question. Our ward mission leader, Bro W, was great and answered. Also I would just like to say that I have a huge testimony of fasting. It is so powerful and effective. Ah man. I should fast everyday!

 

Something that someone said in fast and testimony meeting yesterday that really struck and that liked was "There is a difference between being lucky and being blessed." This young woman was relating her experience of how a tornado didn't touch their house but destroyed her families yard. Her peers were talking to her and they said wow you're so lucky and that's what she responded with. I'm always so impressed with youth here. They have to stand firm in the gospel ALWAYS because so many non members are watching them. They are so cool, and fun to work with. :)

 

This week we were able to serve a Recent Convert. Her baby just got out of NICU and she has 15 month old and a 3 year old. So she's got her hands full. Plus her husband is working in North Dakota and they won't see each other for about a year. How hard would that be? Anyway Sister C came with us and we helped her organize. Then Sister C asked hey do you want to go the store while I'm here with the kids. Sister D's expression could be comparable to me getting a bowl of ice cream. She was SO EXCITED. That moment really touched my heart. This is what life is really all about. Just helping each other. I know this is so basic, but it's so incredible. :) Service is so important. My favorite part of missionary work is serving other people. Members or non members. People who want to hear our message or not. Either way. But yeah.

 

Anyway, B thanks for email. You're...special. :) But I love you anyway. Keep preparing for a mission!

Love, you guys. Thanks for all of your love and support. I miss you, but I love being out here. Mixed feelings.

 

October 7, 2013

It's getting cold here as well. We were planning on going shopping for winter clothes today, but we had a really unique opportunity to go and teach a couple Theology classes at a place called Unity high school. The teacher called and invited us to teach that. We basically taught them the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The students are researching other religions so that was really cool. As we taught them obviously we weren't allowed to testify. So the Spirit was there but not as strong so it was kind of hard. It was cool to be able to teach like a teacher would.

Well like I said earlier we did have a Tornado. 3 actually. But luckily they never made it into Le Mars. Just in the surrounding towns. But it was SCARY! We watched the skies turn green and it was lightening everywhere. We had to clear a spot in the garage for our car because of the golf ball sized hail. The wind was insane! The tornado sirens went off and we had to evacuate into the basement and pray that the tornado wouldn't hit us. The C's were so great and got out all of the emergency equipment and we sat in the basement eating mint ice cream. Hahaha. :) We were like, well if we die at least we die eating ice cream! Only in the Le Mars. Thankfully we're okay. A family, the R's, in our ward were hit. But it was cool the tornado went right by their house and completely destroyed their property. But their barn and house were just fine. We spent all of Saturday chainsawing trees down and stacking wood. They also have a cow named Stew. I decided to pet this cow named Stew and he licked me. It was the grossest thing ever. So yeah anyway that was cool and freaky at the same time.

Another cool thing that happened this week is we had interviews with President W. My interview with him was really powerful. He told me that if I would use the Missionary stress handbook thing that I would be a "Super Mom" in the future. :) Haha Hopefully the skills that I'm trying to develop will come in handy someday. He also told me how much I've improved in the past couple of weeks. He made me cry. He said that the work we were doing is pioneer work and that we needed to be patient and realize that it was going to be slow.  As for transfers I have a feeling I'm going to be here for awhile. The way that President W made it sound like Sister K and I should be here for a couple more months. I'm completely fine with that. :)

This week was a hard week. Not really because of stuff that was happening just hard on the emotions. You know how you just keep getting stressed and more stressed and more stressed and then you just freak out and kind of "blow up" in a sense. Well that happened to both Sister K and I. Ha. Oh dear. One of our Ward missionaries is Sister K. W. She is the most Christlike person I've ever met. But we went over to the W's house for dinner and she could tell that we were a little tired and stressed. She sat us down and she taught us a lesson on Faith. It was a simple lesson. But by the end we were just balling. If I would've known there would've been this many tears on a mission I would have put some second thought into coming. Haha, okay not really, but seriously a lot of tears. Thankfully our Ward Mission Leader Brother W was able to give a blessing. Something that really stood out to me in his blessing was he said that I was a valiant Spirit and that in the pre-mortal life I was standing next to our Heavenly Father teaching. This was really cool because in my Patriarchal blessing in goes into a little bit about my pre-mortal existence. I know that when we get blessings our Heavenly Father really is talking to us through a servant of the priesthood.  There is peace and comfort that truly do come from Him. :) I'm thankful to know that truly we have a LOVING Heavenly Father and that Christ helps us with the Atonement. :) I was also humbled and reminded that I had MUCH to work on.

Another cool thing that happened this week was that we were able to find a awesome new investigator. We had the feeling to go to a less active house here in Le Mars. We had already gone to that house previously but felt like we needed to try again. We went to their house and knocked a couple of times but they wouldn't answer. So we were like why would we get a strong spiritual prompting to be here when nothing is happening. So we decided to knock on the door next to that house. A guy name J came out and he was like this is so weird. I've been asking God to help me learn more about Him. We were like SWEET! Here's a Book of Mormon, let us teach you the Restoration. So that was a cool experience. :) The Spirit is sneaky. :) haha

Something that really stuck out to me this week was in the Hymn Book #112. We don't sing it that often but it's the song that is on the credits of 17 miracles. It's called Savior, Redeemer of My Soul. The lyrics just really impacted me. I invite you to read and ponder them.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bff55utu-U. The version that I like the best is by a guy named Dallyn Vail Bayles. He is amazing. And this song has brought me great comfort, peace, and strength. :)

Sept 30, 2013

Hello!! I'm excited to finally sit down and write you a thought out email! Not a  a rushed letter! :) 

Well this week has been great! I love being a missionary. A LOT! Well at the beginning of the week I decided that I wanted to greater develop the Christlike Attribute patience. So that day was when my email randomly stopped working. God broke my email! Also I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food. Everyday this week I've had someone basically force feed me Mexican food. Then we went and did a service project at a members house which was gathering firewood and the other Sisters were having a hard time getting dirty, so the working went a lot slower.  Then when we mowed the lawn for the C's because they were having a stressful week, the lawn was covered in leaves so we had to bag it. And the bag on the mower is SO SMALL. So we would go up and down a small strip (The fence at home to the garage) and have to turn it off and bag it. Hour and a half.  I know these seem like small things that probably wouldn't matter, but God knew that they would try a little bits of my patience. But I can now say I do have greater patience which is awesome. :)

We also had exchanges this week. They were so FUN! Our Sister Trainer leader is so great. She built us up rather than chastised. By doing that she helped me figure out something about myself. I've often wondered what drives me. Why do I do what I do? I didn't know! Well turns out it's love. Love motivates me. When I feel love I feel motivated or inspired to be better. So rather than chastising me she loved me and then that motivated me personally to become even better! Same can be applied to my Savior. When I feel my Savior's love, often known as the Spirit, I've been able to spark whatever is inside me to do what's right. :) No fear the internal dilemma for Sister Curfew was answered.

Another cool experience I had this week was with Sister D. She was my temp companion for exchanges. She's amazing. Well while we were doing the service project of gathering firewood we decided since we were in a grove of trees we might as well be like Joseph Smith and pray! So we did. It was incredible. I couldn't focus when I was praying with my eyes closed so I prayed with my eyes open. :) Words can't describe how I felt just talking with my Heavenly Father, within nature. It almost felt like I was in the temple for a couple of seconds. Since we haven't been able to go to the temple and I've been missing it a lot it was comforting to feel the "temple feeling" for a couple minutes without being there. :)

Afterwards we were talking to Sister W the member who owns the land. (Her husband is our ward mission leader, coolest man EVER!!) She said the land is the reason why she chose this home. (They live in the Boonies of Iowa.) She was like I just feel like this land in consecrated and sanctified, and I don't know why. I just know that it's really special. :) It truly is. 

Another experience. A couple of weeks ago Sister K and I were walking down the street and felt a prompting to go talk to this guy who was sitting on his steps smoking.  We didn't get a chance to follow that prompting but we wrote down his address and went back to his house this week. We met his wife B. Her grandma is actually a member and she was like you know I'm curious to know what she believes so we gave her a Book of Mormon and are going back to teach her today actually. Hopefully it will go well. :) I love being reassured by Holy Ghost that the Lord knows exactly who is prepared and who isn't. He leads us to people. Thank heavens! :)
We've also had a lot people hating on Joseph Smith this week. It's sad. A lot of less actives doubt their testimony of Jospeh Smith because they don't have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon truly is the keystone of religion. Without it everything falls apart. If you get the chance read Ch 5 in PMG. :) So cool. :)

Well I'm out a time.

Love you!

-Sister Curfew

P.S. We also went to the zoo/trail center with a Less Active family and their investigator children. The traiil center is AWESOME! :)

Sept 25, 2013

Yes some of the time we eat with the C's because none of the other members will feeds us. So they just make a little extra of dinner sometimes for us. Other than that we eat a lot of cereal for dinner or Breakfast Essentials because it's quick and the quicker you eat the more time you have to get other stuff done. :) We do eat better for breakfast and lunch though because we're not as rushed. Plus ice cream. :) That's healthy there is milk. Ha JOKE!

Well because it's not preparation day I don't have time to write a ton. I'm doing well. Learning more and more. I've had some really sacred spiritual moments this past couple days so that's been good. We've teaching a lot. Things are coming along, slowly but surely. I love Le Mars and the crazy people. Quick funny story. We were testifying of Joseph Smith to this one guy on the street because he was asking us about him. The Spirit was SO powerful and he literally ran away from us after we were done testifying. It was really funny. Hehehe he felt the Spirit and it freaked him out. Oh dear. Some people here.
Well love you guys.

Letter from Brother and Sister C.

Sister Curfew's email wasn't working this week.  We actually got a letter from Brother and Sister C.  The couple the Sister are staying with.  Here is an excerpt from their letter.

Thank you so much for the thank you card you sent us.  We are loving having your daughter in our home.  She is a real blessing and brings such a great spirit to us.  We wanted you to know that her email didn't work at the library today so she had to write you a regular letter until the mission office figures out how to fix it.

Sometimes the sisters will need service hours and help us with the yard or with finishing the remodel on the house.  We remodeled the basement for them and still have some trim and little things left.  Sister Curfew quite often wants to mow and paint but will do whatever we need.  She's strong and likes to help with the "boy jobs" like using a chain saw....don't worry....we made sure she was safe.

The sisters are gone a lot but we do see them enough to enjoy and get to know.  I didn't know how hard they have to work or how much they study and pray....it's neat to see young people who take their faith so seriously.

Brother C.  relates to Sister Curfew really well as he too served a mission and they have similar personalities.  He has been really good for her anytime she gets a little discouraged or homesick.  He has given her one blessing of encouragement and it was really sweet that he started and then paused and said I am giving you this blessing in proxy for your dad.  She was in great spirits the next day so it must of given her the needed encouragement.  We can tell she misses you guys but works extra hard to stay focused and upbeat.  I'm sure you are very proud of her.

She has grown so much in patience and love for this little town.  Sister K and her get along really well....they seem to have a great balance of spiritual and fun together.  Last week they offered to cook dinner for us...chicken Alfredo.  I have a cold and Sister Curfew cooked dinner for us and Sister K tonight as a surprise and we couldn't know what it was until she was done.....Navajo Taco's  with chilli, cheese and tomatoes......really good and what a great surprise.  We feed them dinner when they are here and it's nice to talk over dinner with our sisters.   

Thanks for your great example which was behind Sister Curfew coming on her mission.....it's fun to be a part of their lives....thanks for sharing...

We are so proud of Sister Curfew