Hello everybody! First off I just want to say how glad I am to hear that Sarah finally had her baby! I have been wondering if she has had it yet all week long. Congrats Sarah!! The pictures of him are awesome!... Andrew, you need a haircut, and I hear that you need to clean your room as well.
So I learned something interesting this week. My companion, Elder Vincent used to date Moriah Breeden before his mission. He was very surprised to hear that I knew who that was and that she lived in the same ward that I did. What a small world!
Speaking of Elder Vincent, he and I get along so well. I am actually very surprised at how well we get along with each other. He says that he hasn't been as comfortable with any other companion than he is with me. We have some very awesome spiritual discussions during companion study. The other day we were having an especially deep discussion which led to me giving him a blessing of comfort as well as healing (he has been feeling quite under the weather). I am so grateful for the blessing of having a good companion.
The members here are awesome! We have been fed by members almost every night. The best thing about the members in this ward is that they are so eager and willing to bring their friends and family to church and to meet with the missionaries. It's so great! We have had a member present at almost all of our lessons too! They are keeping us busy. On Saturday night we got a call from Brother Dobbs (second councilor in the bishopric). He asked if I could give a talk in sacrament meeting the next day. So I ended up spending the evening preparing a talk on repentance. It was so short notice but I got so many wonderful comments about it and I really think the spirit was felt, and it was a good opportunity to introduce myself to the ward as a whole. Oh, and you will be glad to know that I kept it at about 15 minutes instead of 30.
Our investigators are doing really well. Although we had an appointment with Larry last week and he never answered the door or answered his phone. He didn't come to church either. We were very disappointed by that. Hopefully we will be able to meet with him this week and help him more. We met with two specific investigators last week and they are ready to be baptized!! Their baptism will be this Saturday. I am so excited for them!! Their names are Sabrina and Zilha Suljic (they are sisters and are both from Bosnia). We picked up some new investigators as well! Two are referrals and we haven't able to meet yet but they said that they are interested in joining the church! We will probably contact them today. We were able to meet with two other new investigators as well. Percy and Stephanie. Although they did not even know each other at the time we were able to teach both of them at the same time because they were able to meet us at the house of the member who had referred them to us. That lesson went so well! I don't know if you've heard the stereotype of black people and how much they love fried chicken but it is so true! The member provided all of us with a fried chicken dinner and the two investigators (both black) had piled their plates high with the chicken and were really going to town on it. They invited us to begin teaching them as they ate, so we did. As the lesson went on they began paying more attention to us and less on their food. By the time we were done they were both just sitting on the couch with eyes the size of their plates. Literally, their eyes were HUGE!! And their chicken? Well, they didn't even get half way done with it because they felt the spirit so strong and were listening to our message so intently. Elder Vincent and I really had to leave so we gave them each a Book of Mormon and invited them to church. They quietly said thank you and continued staring into space with their giant eyes. It was honestly kind of awkward leaving them like that, but I was amazed at how strong they had felt the spirit. As we were leaving I heard Percy quietly say "That made sense." I with we could have stayed to get their feedback, but I look forward to meeting with them again. I wonder if they every finished their chicken.
Okay, I really need to get going. I know this church is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through Him we can be made clean and be forgiven of all of our sins. I know that by living by the principles of the gospel and by keeping the commandments we will be happy in this live and will find joy.
Thank you everyone for the blessing you have been in my life. Thank you for your prayers and support! Please write me letters. I love all of you so much! Keep God close!
with sincerest love, Elder Curtis.
P.S. Mom, for my birthday, next month I want everyone in the family to find someone to share the gospel with, and then do it, and then tell me about it. I know that might be hard in Utah, but it can be done. I know it will be uncomfortable, but it is our sacred responsibility as members of the church to share the gospel with others. God will help and bless us. Just open your mouth and share. If you guys could all do that then that would give me a happy birthday indeed!
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