Week 26 - "When people ask me if I know how to swim, I say to them, 'Duh that's how I got here!'"

Quote props to Hno Barrera this week, speaking on his journey to America.  Now if only I can remember what happened the rest of this week…..

MIRIAM GOT BAPTIZED.  For those of you who don't remember or if I never told you about what happened there, we were teaching Miriam and about 5 days before her baptism she called it off for less than happy reasons.  But two months later she got baptized!  God has a plan for all of us!  Families are forever!

We had a Christmas Conference this week with all the missionaries in the entire mission.  We watched "The Nativity Movie" and it completely redefined the way that I think about Mary and Joseph.  What a blessed eye opening experience!  My favorite part of it was when after Joseph and Mary had been traveling to Bethlehem Joseph was napping because he was so tired.  Mary washed his feet for him because it was the only thing that she could do.  I liked this part a lot because I was thinking about how maybe Jesus got the idea of washing his disciples' feet from watching the example of his mother.  And the rest of the conference was good too.  :)  Hna Lowry and I took a special picture with our driving mascots.  Picture below.

We had a lesson with one of our investigators who is getting baptized and he explained to us his favorite part in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi chapters 8-12).  He said, "My whole life I have been on the path of God, but I was wandering in the mists of darkness.  Now I have found the iron rod."  My favorite part was when he then continued to say, " and one day I WILL partake of the fruit!"  He gets it!!!! I invite all of you to read it too. :)

This week we also had Christmas in 87 degree Houston weather, and I got to talk to my family!  On my birthday, I classic to character, had a bowl of spaghetti Os with a candle, which I then blew out.  (That was for you Kam!)  I also got a plate of cake shoved in my face.  But it was really good cake, so there was no downside really.

Also, I wanted to share with you guys the coolest things that happened on Christmas Eve!  We had been planning things all day to do, when Hna Provost knew that we needed to go visit the Ochoa family.  The Ochoa's live 50 miles away and we only had 200 miles for the rest of the month, but somehow we knew we needed to go out there.  So we went, and the drive was beautiful, and when we pulled up the mom answered the door with tears in her eyes and told us that she had just then been praying that we would come.  God really does answer prayers.  Then we were leaving and I lost the phone in the car.  We looked through the whole car, 5 times!  Finally we asked Hna Ochoa to call the phone and we found it in a pocket that my companion had watched me look through multiple times.  As we were finally on our way again, my companion optimistically said, "Well, maybe we would have gotten into a car accident and God was really protecting us."  That was when we drove past this really cool old looking church.  We pulled over, got out, took a quick picture, and just as we were leaving a really nice lady named Pamela pulled over and asked us if we needed help taking a picture.  She then proceeded to tell us about how her great-grandma had started the church in 1875 and about the history (I was really into it haha).  We then shared a little bit of our message and as we parted ways she told us that she was going to share it with all her children and her family.  As we drove away we realized that if we hadn't been there at that exact moment we never would have met her.

One of my mother's favorite scriptures is found in Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."  I know that this is true with all of my heart.  When we let the Lord direct us, he will always guide us to the places that we need to be and exactly when we need to be there.  Not only then do our paths become perfected, but then we are truly following HIS paths, and I know that we can find no greater happiness, joy, and peace of mind.  Follow His paths, and they will always lead us back home to His presence.  And like my mother also always says, "There is no place like home."

Always,
Hna Madison McCurdy

These first three come from Sister Barrera.  Madison and her companion share the same birthday!  What are the chances of that????

This picture comes from Diana.  Thank you sweet ladies!!  She is now part of Diana's family.

Her Spagheti O's (for Kamrynn)

Hermana Lowry and Madison with their driving mascots :)

ps. This picture is yo y la familia Hernandez.  I love them a lot.  Pray for them too please. :)

Week 25 - "Happy Titanic Day, Hermana McCurdy"

My new companion's name is Hermana Rebecca Provost, and she is from West Haven, Utah!  She plays the piano very well (which means I am off the hook for the Christmas season).  She and I have the same birthday even though she is two years older than me but you can bet that we are going to have a party :) pictures to follow next week….. She started her mission here in Conroe a long time ago, and at the end of this transfer, or approximately 36 days from now she will be finishing her mission.  She is the bomb.  And I also got her addicted to family history this week and I don't feel even a millimeter bad about it. Haha!

Another great thing about Hermana Provost is that she can hold a tune really well, so our caroling/finding people to teach has totally been stepped up this week as we throw in some alto parts and some improvised material in there.  God has definitely blessed me more than just our singing this week.

We set a baptism date with that guy from Connecticut (his name is Milton) for January 9th!  We doubled our member presents, and almost all of our numbers.  Miracles!  We worked and worked and we think the best part is that we found areas where we can work even harder.  The work is growing! :)

We had the ward family Christmas Party.  It was a lot of fun.  That is where we took the picture with Oscar Gonzalez, the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric, disguised as Santa.

We got lost on a really sketchy narrow dark road out in the country with purple trees on either side of us and I think that is really how Hermana Provost and I bonded.  It was an adventure about how we got out of there to say the least.

Also remember that lady who went back to Germany and ate seven pieces of Cake?  Well, this week we got to know her daughter, and her life is CRAZY.  She was a war baby in Germany and had to move to the US on the Boat the USS Rosa when she was ten.  She got to sail past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  She was interpreter for the US military.  She was part of the black panthers and she once ran the panama canal, with the "Atlantic Ocean on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other."  Hermana George has become one of my favorite people.  After church she was confiding to me about her life, and she told me about how for 24 years she had lost the song in her heart, and how somehow she has found it again.  I know that God gives us so many different gifts, and that through him is the only way that we can be happy.  I hope that each of you will find the song in your heart, and that you will never stop it from playing.
Merrily,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

p.s. Merry Christmas!!! :)

ppss. My old district at the temple.

Hna McCurdy and Hna Provost at the ward Christmas Party!

(Photo compliments of the Barerra Family- Keep them coming!)

Doesn't the glow of the Santa hat make her look like an angel? :)

Week 24 - I love to see the temple!

We got to go the temple this week as a district, and I bought a Mormon Tabernacle Choir/David Archuletta Christmas CD.  We have realized that there comes a time in every missionaries' life when he or she, becomes grateful that someone found David Archuletta.   Maybe it is because we can't listen to anything else, but we are living off of "Silent Night" by David Archuletta and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We also had temple tours with Paulina, and then goth to go on Friday night to do baptisms with Francelia for her family.  They have put a little nativity scene outside the temple, it was really pretty.

We have also been Caroling like crazy.  We have developed a tactic of caroling every time we knock on someone's door and know they are home but won't answer the door…. and then they open the door.  We got to carol in an Old Person home this week as a District and it was very special.  One old man came as we were leaving and didn't get to hear us sing, so we asked him for his favorite song and then we sang all three verses of Silent Night and I resisted singing the David Archuletta version on the last verse with all that I had haha.  Our elderly friends sang along and it made my whole day, even though they put me in charge of the singing.

We also had a Stake Christmas Party this week, and we found out that President Nelson from the Twelve Apostles is coming to dedicate our new stake center next month.  Our ward primary sang the Little Drummer Boy (in Spanish) and it was the best song of the entire night haha.  All the missionaries in the Stake were the closing act.  Then on the way home they shut down the freeway and it was torture.

Also, the Hernandez Family is not getting a divorce!  We're 100% sure that it was because they read the Book of Mormon together.  They might not be so sure, but we are.

I love going to the temple.  It was so special every single time that we went this week.  I know that the temple changes lives and hearts.  Paulina is so excited to go in one day, and I was privileged to watch Francelia enter and help her family become a little bit more eternal.  How lucky we are to have the House of God on the earth today.  I wish that I could be with all of you one day in the temple. :)

Have a merry week before Christmas, and please let me know if there is anything that I can do for any of you.  Please pray for the people in Conroe, that they will be ready to receive the miracles of God in this Christmas Season.

All my love,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

ps.  These are pictures of the temple, us with Francelia at the temple and I don't remember.

Week 23 - "I think world war 2 just started!" Danny Walker

Salutations my family and my friends!  This week was crazy!
If anyone is wanting to send me a Christmas Card, etc. please send them to "1900 Westview Blvd #526 Conroe, TX  77304".

We had zone conference this week with training on how to work with a ward council and it was very interesting.  I kind of had my mind blown about the organization of the church.  The Lord is very smart in how He organizes things.  They didn't make me talk this time, but they did randomly call on me to talk about Family History….I still don't know if I think that was planned or the Spirit, but someone was really on top of stuff.

The Hernandez Family is moving! To Cleveland!  This is a small tragedy because Cleveland is right on the other side of our border and in the Houston East Mission.  We had little tears in our eyes as they explained to us that it would be the last time we could teach them.  But then they turned into tears of joy when we realized it was actually right on our side of the border, and still in our area! (So we can still teach them.)  We happy danced and sang Christmas songs and it went from being completely heart-wrenching to a small miracle.

This week we had dinner with a woman who is in our Spanish Ward to learn Spanish.  Spanish is her third language because she is actually a German Immigrant!  Getting to know her sweet 81 year old mother was probably the best part of the whole evening.  She has a German accent and a secret chocolate stash in the freezer and lives off of apple sauce (that's a German thing).  She was telling us about how they immigrated to the United States during the Cold War and she didn't see her family for 7 years.  She then said that when she went back, she and her sisters met up in a cafe and she bought seven slices of cake, and that she ate all of them right then.  Maybe this sounds silly, but my new little friend sacrificed her German cake (American's can't make cake apparently. Or meat. Or anything.) so that her family could have a better life.

I learned a lot from her example.  Sometimes I miss the "cake" that is so much better at home, or at BYU.  But I left the cake to come help my family, and the little ones that I have come to love every day, have a better life.  And the best part of it is that Heavenly Father is not only helping me understand the value of quality cake, but also He is teaching me how to make my own.  The future is truly very bright.  "There is no darkness so dense, so menacing, or so difficult that it cannot be overcome by light."  I know for myself that this is true.  I love all of you and I hope that y'all have a great week!
Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

ps This is a sneak peak at our District's Christmas Picture

ppss. This is our investigator's daughter named Mia.

And these two lovely pictures were sent to my cell phone by a lovely woman who is really good to my daughter.  Thank you!!

pppsss. Someone please celebrate Pearl Harbor day for me.  Go America!

Week 22 - Remember that time it was 80 degrees on Thanksgiving? Me too.

Hey there my favorite people!  I don't have very much time today, so I am sorry for all the typing mistakes and also for the potential depressed level of eloquence of this email. :)

Thank you for everyone who communicated with me the week!  I love getting surprise emails and letters!  You guys are the best and you can sure bet that I was especially grateful for you guys this week.

How to start… this week was a week of growth.  Growth in my teaching, growth in my Spanish, growth in my confidence and in my vision and also in my stomach.  This week I took a nap on Pday.  It was the first nap I have had in a lllooonnnnggggg time and although I was curled up in a fetal position on the couch it was quite refreshing.  BOTH OF MY BROTHERS EMAILED ME.  A black man tried to Bible Bash with us while we were out finding people.  Don't worry I handled it well, which is to say that I didn't fight with him.  Instead I thanked him for his faith and gave him a picture of Jesus.  I have helped people put up three Christmas trees (mom you should try inviting one set of the home ward missionaries and letting them help you put up the tree and decorate it).  Reina and Sherly moved to Atlanta Georgia (I might have a referral coming your way Elder Cruz) and we cried because that was really sad but is a good change.

MILTON GOT MARRIED.  WHICH NOW MEANS THAT HE CAN GET BAPTIZED. *happy dance*  Speaking of Milton, this week when we were eating Thanksgiving with him and his family I discovered that he lived in Bridgeport, CT.  It was like having a little piece of home somehow haha. The wedding was beautiful and super cute and here's a picture of them and me and Hermana Lowry.

Hispanic weddings are crazy and so fun!  They have a lot of really weird games and traditions and stuff.  Also at the wedding I discovered I have a really hard time not dancing.

I went on splits with Hermana Barrera (the Relief Society President) and we were sitting in her car and I was having a hard moment and I asked her if she could go anywhere for six seconds, where would she go?  And she told me there was no where that she would rather be than in her car in the rain and the dark becoming better friends with me.  That made me cry.  I love that woman.

I am sure that you are all wondering about what we did for thanksgiving.  Hermana Lowry made Yams and I made my great grandma McKenna's cranberry salad and then we went to the Hernandez's house and had a thanksgiving feast with them. (The picture of me and the little girl wearing crowns is them.)

And then, since they are investigating the church we taught them the Plan of Salvation.  (On thanksgiving.  How neat is that!)  Then we went to stop by the Vasquez family and they made us eat with them too.

Then as we were hardly able to walk and probably collectively 10lbs. heavier, we wanted to stop by an inactive lady's house to wish her a happy thanksgiving and her whole family was over, and they made us eat too.  I ate three thanksgiving meals.  I can't even tell you how full I was haha.  Hna Lowry was worse, though, she almost puked.  When we all went around the table and said something that we were grateful for I had so much that I was fit to bursting (literally) and couldn't find the words in English or in Spanish.  I am so grateful for my family, for Rhodric, for my parents, my grandparents, life, learning, music, Spanish, people, miracles, and most of all Jesus Christ.  The thing I think about gratitude is that not only is the cup always half full, but it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  How wonderful.  I am also grateful for the temple, for an eternal perspective.  I am grateful for my testimony that all that I teach everyday, in English and in Spanish is true.  Oh, and of course I am grateful for all of y'all too. :)
Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

Dress up at the Barrera's house.

Esmeralda and Andrea trying to drive away in our car!

All the Missionaries at the mission tour.

Me wearing Ruby's super cute boots.  Even though they are a size six they fit me.

Ruby wanted to take a selfie.  She is the one that we ate dinner with first.

Hermana Lowry and I with two little darlings at the wedding.  The one standing by me asked me on my first day here if I would be her best friend.  Her name is Mia.

Week 21: Lots of Cake. Cake everywhere!

This week I learned that in Texas, when there is a tree with a purple ribbon, sash or painted stripe on it, that when you walk past it the owner of the property can shoot you.  Haha I didn't get shot or even shot at.  Just the things you learn sometimes are amazing! ;)

This past Friday was Elder Hernandez's birthday!  Elder Hernandez is an Elder in my district, and the following story is exactly why if anyone in the next two months asks you when my birthday is do NOT tell them, because so far no one knows.  In Hispanic culture, they have a thing when you have to 'bite the cake,' meaning they actually make you bite it and while you go to innocently bite the cake someone always smashes your face into it.  That being said, of course Elder Hernandez tried to hide his birthday, and of course using our ninja skills, Hna Lowry an

d I discovered when it was.  Not only did we get him once, we got him twice and it was only through luck that he didn't get it the third time.  The best part was when he picked up the plate of cake that Hna Lowry had just shoved in his face and shoved it right back into hers.  Point Elder Hernandez.

SHIRLEY GOT BAPTIZED!!  And it was amazing! (even if my piano was a little less than, but all is well in Zion.)  I don't have any pictures of us, but here is one of her and my companion.

I have always been a very gung-ho 'only 119 more days until Christmas' type of person, and that being said, being a missionary has made it so much worse.   On Christmas we get to talk to our families, and also there is just something about celebrating Jesus Christ's birth being his representative and doing the things that he did every day.  The Christmas music has already come out and Heaven knows we have not been able to stop singing it.  This last Thursday as we were listening to a random Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas CD Jingle Bells came on and I bolted upright in my seat, let out a screech and turned it WAYYY UP.  My companion was temporarily very confused as to why I was acting as though this rendition of jingle bells was the best thing I had ever heard, when I explained to her that the guy singing a long was none other than Alfie Boe, a man that I had been listening to for a long time.  I started to laugh at the irony of the situation and also the fact that he had only sang two words and I knew exactly who it was.

That got me thinking.  Can I recognize the voice of God in my life as clearly as I can recognize Alfie Boe's?  Can we understand his counsel and his blessings as they speak quietly to our hearts and to our minds whenever they come?  Do we always respond with turning our speakers WAYYY up?  I cannot always recognize the voice of God so clearly, but I am grateful that, although he is teaching me so many different things, one of the most important things is how to listen to him.  How wonderful it is to me that we have a Father in Heaven who wants to speak to us and guide us and help us :) the heavens are not closed.  Miracles are not a thing of the past!  I promise with all the sincerity of my heart that we only need ears to hear and eyes to see them.

I love you all very much!  Have a wonderful thanksgiving and stay warm and eat good pie for me because we don't eat much pie in Hispanic culture!  We bite cake!

All my love,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

This picture was on the Texas Houston Mission Blog, I borrowed it… this picture was taken at a fireside at the church

Ps. Hermana Lowry and Shirley.

Ppss. Elder Hernandez and Hna Lowry with cake in their faces.  

Pppsss.  My cute friend with cake in her face.  Cake EVERYWHERE!

Ppppssss. Don't walk past the tree with the purple on it.

Week 20 - Miracles in Houston

Well, I don't exactly know what to write about this week, but it was
certainly a great week! How about we will start from worst to
greatest.
    My address has changed. Please ask my mother if you would like the new one.
    Secondly, we had a special thing in church this week where all of
the children sang a bunch of songs about Jesus, and this person,
*points to self* got to play the piano. It was really bad haha, but I
like to tell myself that it would have been a lot worse if no one had
played the piano. Over all, it went really well! It was really sweet
to be able to hear the children talk about Jesus, how he is their
friend, and that they want to follow him.
    We are also teaching a new family that we found, and they are
crazy (especially Alex, who is three) and I LOVE them. We met them
when we were walking down a random street and knocked on their door,
and Ruby (who is 9) came running over from her neighbors house. She
told us in what seemed to be only one breath that he parents were not
home, they were at the hospital, that her mom's name was Diana, her
Dad's name is Alejandro, that they would be home on a specific day at
a specific time if we would like to come back over, and that her
mother's phone number was ***-***-****. Of course we went back over.
And after teaching us several times, Diana was telling us yesterday
how it was kind of like a miracle that Ruby invited us right back over
after having met us for 15 seconds. I know the message that we are
teaching can help them in so many ways! There are so many good people
that live here, and although I have only met a very small fraction of
them, I cannot help but love them somehow.
    The pictures that I have attached are of the baptism of a young
man named Jesus Gamez. He is from Monterrey, Mexico, and he was here
in the United States, to learn English. During that time he met us at
English class, and he had been studying the gospel with us ever since.
Jesus was supposed to be baptized on Sep 5. And then some crazy stuff
happened and he was supposed to be baptized on Oct 3rd, and then on
Oct 10. Then, some other crazy things happened and we had to cancel
his baptism only an hour and a half before it was supposed to start.
That was a really sad day. Hna Jorgensen and I almost cried, but it
was Jesus who was crying. But God gave us a miracle, and this last
Wednesday, Jesus was finally able to get baptized. His family even was
able to come from Mexico! Sunday Jesus went back to Mexico a new
person. He came to America thinking he was coming to learn English,
but really he came to learn about Jesus Christ. I do not think that I
will ever see him again, but he has touched my life in ways that he
does not know. All the people I have met, and taught, and loved here
have. How lucky I am that God has trusted me to teach his sons and
daughters here. And, no matter how long we have to wait to have the
blessings of God like Jesus did, I know that they are ALWAYS worth it.
    I love you all a lot. Have a fantastic week. :)
From the land where everything is bigger, 
Hna Madison McCurdy

Ppss. Not sure why my head is so blonde in this picture. Sorry about that haha

Ps. And this is my companion being a chicken whisperer. 

Jesus, who got baptized, with Elder Murdock

We were being superheroes

A cute dirt road I knocked doors on

 This is Conroe.  A Mexican man with a horse and a cowboy hat walking down the street in front of a Taco Bell.  It describes it perfectly somehow.

Apparently this is the good "jump" picture of her zone- the other one was bad...

This is the day I was really sick and my last day in Houston.  This is Susy and Ricardo and somehow even though I don't speak Spanish they love me.  It is probably because I tamed their mean little daughter and now she loves me.  Ricardo is shaking my hand because I apparently give really good handshakes and everyone likes to tell me I'm really strong…..nice

This is Hyrum's death mask.  I have this picture because it makes me excited because we have the same eyebrows.  

Something I drew on the chalkboard, it is our zone motto.

One of my investigators in Houston.  His name is Jose Rivas and he loves the Book of Mormon.  And I love the Book of Mormon.  And so we are friends.

The guy on the left is my Mexican father, and the guy on my right is my Mexican brother.  

They're cool.

Week 19 - We're not in "Kansas" (Houston) anymore!!

Salutations to my family, friends, and any other people that may be
reading this:
    I hope that you guys had an awesome week because I sure did! What
a wonderful time to live on this earth and to grow, and to learn :)
    I have been transfered to a cute little town called "Conroe." I
didn't realize how much my previous area was in the city until I got
to the new one, which has a town called, "Cut and Shoot," and there
are alligators. (Real alligators! How cool is that!?) Here we cover a
very small ward that covers a bunch of towns. Many people think that
this is a "hard area," but as my wise companion pointed out, "there
are no hard areas, only disobedient lazy missionaries." And it is
completely true. Speaking of my new companion, her name is Hna Lowry
and she is from Cedar City Utah. She has been on her mission a little
bit over year. She is such a hard worker and I know that I am going to
learn so much from her. I have gotten very good luck in companions on
my mission so far!
    My new skills include a variety of things. I am the only person in
the entire ward who plays a lick of piano, which means I now get to
play at everything :] I will get lots of practice! Pray for the
primary program this next week haha :) I have also gotten very good at
figuring out whether or not the house we want to knock has a dog, and
also running away from others dogs. There are a lot of dogs out here
in the 'country.'
    I have met so many new people and made so many new friends in this
short time that I have been here in Conroe. I certainly miss my old
friends in my old area, but I am excited for the new things here too.
We are teaching a variety of people. One of which is a 16 year old
girl named Paulina who loves learning about the gospel, and another
one is the Alvarado family who went with us to the temple yesterday,
and whose house almost burned down on thursday. But do not be alarmed,
it did not burn down. Everything, them, and us, just smell like smoke.
We are also teaching the family of Leticia, who decided this week to
get baptized. Wooh hoo! The work is awesome!
    I love you guys. I am so grateful for you and for your support on
my mission. I am also grateful for the scriptures, and for the
opportunity that we have to drink from them. I am grateful for my
loving Father in Heaven and for all the miracles that He helps me see
throughout the week. I know that the miracles are always there, we
just have to ask for his help to open our eyes and see them better.
Have a wonderful week, and I hope that you too can see the miracles.
And when you find one, make sure you share it with someone else,
because what good is a miracle if we don't share it?
    All my love,
-Hermana Madison McCurdy

Here is Madison's new address:
1900 Westview Blvd #526
Conroe, TX  77304

ps. This is my new companion and I as Elsa and Anna with a bunch of children.

Week 18 - I could really go for a milkshake right now :)

Salutations!
  First off, happy late Halloween! :) I actually missed the over kill
of orange and black this year (my high school colors were orange and
black), and also didn't get any candy, but it was good. Hna Jorgensen
and I had a very interesting Halloween. The Missionaries have to be in
by 6:00 on because of safety purposes and also other things, so we
wanted to go get food and then clean and write letters and other stuff
during the night. The day was slightly more complicated because for
every month we have exactly 1300 miles for the car and if we go over
we have to face the consequences aka "walking." The day of Halloween
we had only 23 miles before we went over, and at the end of the day
after major budgeting and still getting food the odometer was at
1299.7. :)
  One of the less actives we are teaching is named Gregpry Moreno.
His wife makes amazing food. His family has been here in the United
States for four generations (kind of rare haha) and he doesn't know
where he comes from, so I have been helping him do his family history,
which basically means we're buddies. He got the priesthood two weeks
ago and this week he got to pass the sacrament. Brother Moreno is
missing both of his legs a little bit past his knees and is in a wheel
chair, but this disability did not stop him from participating. One of
the 16 year old boys pushed his wheelchair as he held the sacrament
tray, and helped deliver it. There was something so humbling about
watching him do it, I realized at one point that I had tears in my
eyes. It was a beautiful sight.
  This week I made Hna Jorgensen a really cool map thingy of the plan
that God has for us. I don't think she was expecting me to be super
artistic and that it came out as a surprise haha. But it makes me
super happy every time that she uses it in a lesson. In Spanish, it is
called "el plan de salvación" or the plan of Salvation. One of the
things that I like about it is that it is also called the Plan of
Happiness and the plan of Redemption in the scriptures. Many prophets
teach about it in the bible and in the Book of Mormon. I know that
it's God's plan of how his children can be happy. It talks about where
we were before this life, where we will be after, and why we are here.
My favorite part of it is that our families can be families even after
this life. Through the plan and the promises that I make with God in
the temple, my dad will always be my dad. My mother and my sister and
one day my future children will always be mine and I will always be
theirs too. What joy this knowledge brings me! I know many of you have
heard me talk about the temple before, but that's why it is so
important. That is why the temple is so sacred: because there are
special types of promises made in there that are so central and
important in the plan of God. These blessings for our families is one
of my favorite things to teach the people here in Texas. I love
watching the peace and assurance of God's plan for us sink into their
lives and into their eyes, and it is all possible through Jesus
Christ. Can I share this with you too?
  And also, I am being transferred, which means I am going to be in a
new area and with a new companion. If anyone would like to send me
mail in the next week, it should go to 16623 Hafer Rd, Houston TX
77090. Thanks guys! Love ya :)
  Always, Hna McCurdy

Ps. This is the Temple in Houston!

Ppss.  These are all the missionaries in my Zone.

A few more fun pictures of Madison, her fellow missionaries and friends:

Me and my district with the sign of Africa at the Zoo

No big deal but this pine cone is the size of my face and we know how much I love pine cones :)

Hna Jorgensen was serenading me with the Ukelele

The Houston North Spanish Zone serious picture

This is the grouchiest, meanest little girl I have ever met.  But with patience, hard work, and perseverance, she now loves me.  Even if she doesn't look it in this picture. :)

One of my little friends

And this little girl calls me Maria because she loves the Sound of Music and I call her my Liesel.  Every time I see her we sing sound of music together. :)