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

Sept 16, 2013

Dear Family,                                                                                              

I'm glad to hear the Blaine is learning the cello! I'm so jealous! But that's super cool. He'll have to teach me when I get home. :) I'm glad he is improving on his driving. :)

So send some of your rain down here...this whole week has been dark cloud cover but no rain.  Ha when it rains here it rains sideways, it's so weird and really hard to drive in.

Well to be honest this past week was nothing short of a miracle. :) We taught 16 lessons this week! Our mission goal is to teach 20 lessons a week. Progression not perfection. :) We found 4 new investigators! It was great. This may sound small but it really is a big deal. :)  This really is the Lord's work. :) I love doing what he wants us to do. I'm slowly improving on my teaching skills and I'm coming closer to my Savior everyday.  One experience that changed my view on personal testimonies was when we tr-acted into our new investigator named J. :) So when J came out on the door she started yelling at us saying that we didn't believe that Jesus was the truth the light and the way. My companion and I were taken aback and Sister K tried to explain that we in fact do believe that Jesus is the truth the light and way, because our whole religion is based on Jesus Christ. Anyway we could not get her to believe us. So we did what we knew how to do best which was bear a personal testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. IMMEDIATELY after we did that she softened and her countenance changed and the Spirit of the conversation was so different. We read 2 Nephi 31: 21 where it explains the doctrine of Christ. And she invited us to come back and teach her.  It reminded me of the experience Alma had with Korihor the anti-Christ. He kept saying over and over there is no Christ and mocks the Atonement. However Alma pulls the personal testimony card and Korihor was struck dumb. So ladies and gents there is NOTHING more powerful than a personal testimony of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. So cool. :)

Yesterday I found a scripture that sums up our week. It's scripture mastery so you think I would know this, but alas I didn't pay attention in seminary evidently, but it's Alma 37: 6-7 "by small and simple things great things are brought to pass." I know there is power in doing little things everyday to become something great. It reminds me of legos. How one lego is just on lego but when you slowly build on that one lego something awesome usually comes of it. It was a great reminder to me that growth takes a long time and not only do I need to develop patience with other people but with myself as well. :)
 I'm enjoying every minute of being out here (except waking up, still not liking that) but I'm sure I'll get used to it EVENTUALLY. :)

I love you all. :) I hope everything is going well.