Week 39 - la Pascua

Happy Easter everyone! :) :)

This week started off with a mission wide family history conference, which is to say that it was my kind of week. :)  We are piloting a new thing that family search is doing here in the great Texas Houston Mission, and I am excited for it to be rolled out around the world.  Details to come later, I am sure!  That being said, we are now teaching and helping with a family history class here at the Katy Library.  Family History is amazing, I am sorry that it is almost all that I talk about in these emails, but I know that it and missionary work are the same work, just on different sides of the veil.

We went to the Women's Conference at the Stake Center in Houston.  We got to see a lot of our Conroe friends, and that made me really happy.

Our phone completely malfunctioned.  Technology is moving really fast these days, our ancient phone cannot keep up!

We helped the Mannon (from the Dominican Republic) family move into their new house.  Either I gained a lot of muscle or remembered that I had some haha because I was feeling it later.

We decorated eggs for Easter as a district.  I have never made so many mormon related easter eggs in my life.  I think that the Texas Houston Mission egg is my favorite. 3

This week, the Fuenmayor (from Venezuela) family got baptized.  One thing I learned is that Satan does try and stop it even when you are in the middle of the baptismal service.  Positively though, the hot water was working the whole time, and our investigators got there on time.  We were kind of stressed about it, (**SEE BELOW) but the good news is that the ward did not realize that anything was going wrong, and we learned how to break into the closet door with a coat hanger.

Sorry I don't have very much to say today, but I know that Jesus Christ loves us.  I know that His death was not only to help us be clean from all of our sins, but when we look only at that we are missing the bigger picture.  He really died so that our families can be together forever in heaven.  How beautiful is that :)

I hope you all have the greatest week ever!  And also, pictures to follow.  i have a lot of pictures.
Always,
Hna McCurdy

My companion and I on Easter.

Hna Childs returned for the Fuenmayors' baptism.  Their names are Liliana, the mom, Andrea age 12 and Andres age 9 with the peace sign.

Our Easter eggs.  My favorite is the one on the right.

The district with the eggs.  Notice Hna Lowry on the right. :)

Us looking at the temple picture.  My companion is the cute Mexican one pointing at the temple. :)

A little too much sun...

Our district selfie at the temple.

Our district at the temple.

Madison asked Hna Gutierrez to share with me the letter she wrote home.  I find that between the two of them, I felt like I was running down the halls breaking into the closet too.  I hope you enjoy!

Friday and saturday we helped the Mañon's move and of course we were in our skirts which makes it a little hard. but it's okay. it was really good! and we got pizza out of it on friday!

so saturday we started out our day by helping the Manons move which was good but hard because we were moving furniture and lots of bags and boxes. then the baptism! man was that a day. 

so we get there and start filling up the font. it's all good. then 10 minutes before it starts people start showing up. Milagro because us hispanics always start late! then 5 minutes and the Fuenmayors are still not here and they need to change! finally they arrive and start changing. by this point lots of people have arrived. then 15 minutes after 12 (when it's suppose to start) hno. Colls llega. he is baptizing them so we were afraid he wasn't even going to show up! then he comes up to us and says the closet is locked i cant get any clothes. gave us a heart attack. he didn't bring any white pants to do the baptism in! so he went home to get the keys. 

we start the baptism because we figured he would be back by the time the talks were over and everything. and he was! milagro! but without keys.... so he opens the bishops office and nothing. no key in there will open the closet. we found a hook and break into the closet! seriously amazing it worked out. then he changes really quick and we start the actual ordinance of the baptism. after that's over and everyone gets food and we finally get to breathe we realize hno. Colls forgot to unplug the font! and it was too deep to try and go in there with our clothes. we grab a broom and tape a hook on the end and go fishing. Well Elder Jones goes fishing. and poor him because his planner and this notebook with who knows what (but it's really important to him) falls in the font! he leans so far that we seriously thought he was going to fall in! they didn't get too ruin which is really good. Eventually he gets it unplugged and the baptism is officially over.

we were so happy they got baptized, but it was stressful! we were running all over the place, but the spirit was still so strong and they were so happy, and i don't think either of them knew anything was wrong. It's amazing that Satan doesn't stop at all. Not even during the baptism. Luckily if we are on the Lord's side we will win!

Week 38 - #halleluja

So I feel like a lot happened this week, and yet somehow I do not really remember what all that was.

Kathy and Armando are MOVING!  But only to a motor home, so we are hopeful that we can figure out that divorce and get them baptized before they move back to California. (what?)

We bought a lot of candles to help our apartment smell better (our neighbors smoke marajuana and it comes through our vents).  So when you get an odd picture of us tanning ourselves over the candles- that is why.

I made my companion hamburger helper for the first time, and she loved it!  And it turns out that she has never celebrated easter before in things other than going to church, so you will see lots of pictures of that this coming week.

We volunteered at KCM (Katy Christian Ministries), and helped them in their food pantry, cleaned up their general store, and then organized what felt like 500 hangers.  It was actually super fun.

What I think I remember most about this week though was definitely the temple.  We got to go do ordinances for our family members only if both of us could find a family file name.  I was all set, and it was literally tricky finding Hna Gutierrez one, but we found it!  It was awesome.  I had the opportunity to go and be baptized for my great grandmother, Dorothy Virginia Lucas.  I never got to meet her while she was living, but I still love her somehow.  Her name was Dorothy and she was from Kansas- I was Dorothy (for Halloween) and I am from Kansas. :)  What a truly powerful experience that was.  I do not have the words for it, but thoughtful smiles and some tears.  I am grateful for all the little miracles that I have had to make it possible so that she could receive these essential things.

Easter is next week!  Who has seen the Easter Video?  Well if you haven't you should go see it.  It is really easy to find.  FollowHim.mormon.org  I think that by far my favorite part of it is when the people are all showing pictures of their family members, and declaring that through Jesus Christ, they know that their families will live again.  This message took a particularly powerful role on me this week, because I learned that one of my friends passed away this Thursday.  She was only 20 years old.  Although it was hard to know that another one of my friends has passed on before me, I am comforted because of the message that I have been called to share with every person that I see- which although encompasses a lot of things, is simply that we will see and be with our families and friends forever if we will but do the things that God has asked us to do and follow Him.  I would also like to declare my witness in this special season of the resurrection that I know that I will see my friend, and my great grandmother, and my Grandma Judy, and Jamie again one day, and that if I follow God and His Son Jesus Christ with all my heart, might, mind and strength that I will never have to be without them again.  I know that this Gospel is true.  I know that our Savior rose again on a beautiful Easter Sunday so that we can be with all of our lobed ones forever.  What joy and comfort that brings me everyday.

Have a wonderful easter, and a bright week.  I love all of you! :)
Always,
Hna Madison McCurdy

ps.  This picture is of me with a picture of my great grandma Dorothy in front of the Houston temple.  I feel like it could go in the Easter Video haha.

Hna Gutierrez commented Madison sneezed at the perfect moment.  I think this picture was taken first and the good one (above) was second.  Look closely at Hna Gutierrez cute smile!

Good times!

Week 37 - Fruit. Grapefruit.

I would like to begin my email by wishing Sister Wilkins A HAPPY TWENTIETH BIRTHDAY.  NO I DIDN'T FORGET.  WOOH!!!!

Speaking of birthday parties, this week we crashed one.  It was really fun actually.  It was for a less active family's son who turned one.  His name is Thomas Amorim and he is adorable.   The other week we went to visit his mom and when we got inside she burst into tears.  She said that she had been having a horrible day and that she prayed that God would send someone to help her be happy, and that was when we rand the doorbell.

Also, we had transfers this week.  Hna Childs left Katy and actually went to my very first ward!  She is going to love it I am sure, even though she cried a bit leaving.  She's going to do so awesome and help them so much I am a bit jealous.  I got a new companion.   Her name is Hna Gutierrez and she is from Springville, Utah.  But really she was born in D F Mexico and she immigrated to the United States and had to learn English the hard way and she's never had American things like Hamburger Helper or Spaghettios, and she drives like a Mexican and she has beautiful hair and is so nice and even has two last names.  She is the cutest!  Also, she likes grapefruit- so that's a bonus.

We went to a food pantry and packed bags of food for people.  We have an assembly line that we have worked out and it makes it super fast.  I like serving in little ways.  If you can serve someone in little ways this week- do it!

We had a good nice great plains thunderstorm or five this week.  They were really fun.  I miss hail and those big black clouds- even if no one came to church because they are afraid of the rain.  It has also started to get hot again, and the mosquitoes are OUT!  Good times.

Hna Lowry has been transferred into my district!  She apparently has a broken foot and bedazzled her cast.  Also, my english is deteriorating, so I am sorry if I am doing horrible at this.  (For example, I just spelt horrible 'horibble' *facepalm*)

Other than that, life is so good, and I can't complain of anything!  We hit a bunch of our goals this last week and I was happy to be a part of it.  There are so many good things happening here in Katy. :)

I (re) learned this week that faith is like a little seed.  It really only needs three things to grow.  Our faith too is like una semilla.  It really only needs three things to grow- water, dirt, and sun, or the scriptures, prayer and going to church.  What happens when a seed only has sun and dirt? or only water and dirt?  It dies.  Likewise so do our testimonies.  If we only read the scriptures and pray, our testimony is going to die too.  We all know how difficult it is in being diligent in growing plants, but really all it comes down to is having those three things every single day (or every week as in the church example).  Sometimes I think we think that the flowers are just not worth all the constant effort, and yet for those who have really tasted it, we know that it is not true.  As Lehi a prophet in the Book of Mormon says, "And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.  And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted.  Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all whiteness that I had ever seen.  And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy."

I know that this is true.  As we do the things we need to do every day, the fruit that comes will be worth every effort, and that it is desirable above all else.  I hope that we can all do the things that we need to do diligently so that we can be truly happy.  And who knows, it might even be a grapefruit tree. ;)

Always,
Hna McCurdy

PS. Sorry I cannot send more pictures, the computer is being weird.

A very nice person sent me this picture saturday from the Family History Library.  I'm pretty sure this is Madison's new companion Hna Gutierrez.  Thank you random people!!!

Week 36 - Proverbs 3:5-6

I am not exactly sure why, but every time I go to write one of these emails, the first thing that pops into my head to say is 'Hey there party peoples!'

Once I heard one of my good friends say that they don't believe in miracles.  Although I can understand that point of view, I am also so glad to know that it is not true.  And if you need persuading, you can use my life as evidence that it is not.

For starters, I taught Sebastian Perez, the 11 year old boy from Venezuela that just got baptized on Valentines Day, how to play the card game 'Go Fish'.  It was really cute.  He was having a really hard time saying 'fish' without a spanish accent.  It was so fun!

We did a lot of family history this week, and the success we had there was inspired.  Elder Murdock had asked me for help and we were able to help him a lot.  He walked out of there so excited he seemed to be floating a little bit.  Also, his companion asked for help, but his dad is from England and his mom is from Taiwan, and that was a little bit out of our range of expertise.  We're working on it though.  We're not giving up!  Maybe even a bigger miracle was that we found Elder Jones a name to take to the temple.  It took us two hours, but we finally found and prepared the name of his fourth cousin five times removed's wife's uncle.  I have never seen a family tree so well done in my life.

This week we went to Houston to have a meeting with Bonnie L. Oscarson, General Young Womens President, and Sister Stevens, General Relief Society First Counselor.  On the way there, we stopped at Walgreens in my old area that I served in in Houston.  There was a ton of black people, and a bunch of rap music, and I felt so good to be back in the ghetto.  Haha it was so fun.  Traffic was worse than I remembered but it was awesome.  Sister Oscarson hugged me, and then we bonded because she lived in Massachusetts and I am from Connecticut.  Good times.

We had a competition with the Elders this week to see who could invite more people to English class and the loser has to bring treats to English class this tuesday.  We won, but not by very much.  It was 90-105.  The size of our English class quadrupled!  (and this week the police came looking for one of our students and arrested him.  He has not come back to English class since.)

The coolest thing happened last night!  We were driving to someone's house when I accidentally took a wrong turn.  When I went to course correct, I ended up taking another wrong turn!  Now we were completely going the wrong direction and both my companion and I were slightly frustrated so we pulled over to a gas station to turn around for the third time- but we saw a Hispanic guy so we went to go invite him to English class.  We had another flyer so Hna Childs asked the other man who had just arrived if he knew anyone that would want to learn English too.  He asked us if this class would also help people learn how to read, and we told him that it would.  Then he looked up at the dark sky, and then back at us, and with little tears in his eyes he said, "God is real, you know that?"  Then he said, "I just prayed that God would send me someone to help me learn how to read better.  And then you guys walked up to me.  God really does answer prayers."

The moral of the story, I think, is one that God has had to teach me over and over again.  We don't need to question Him no matter where He sends us, because even when we are on the wrong path, we are on the right one because it is He that sent us there.  This week I challenge each of you to trust in the Lord with all your heart, and trust His will, and I know that He will direct you for good.  Thank you for all that you do for me, and I hope that you each have a wonderful week.  :)  Remember that there are always miracles if we have the eyes to see them.

Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy

ps. Franci and Sebastian Perez and us.

ppss.  Then I had another picture but the computer will not let me send it.  Sorry the only picture is a bad one!

This is us being crazy because we were waiting for transfer calls.

This is me with the Fuenmayor children who are being baptized this month.

This is a picture of my zone!

Week 35 - Families can be together forever! :)

(She has been serving 8 months as of today!)

Salem!
So this week, I got to go to Jamba Juice! (the only one in the mission.  It was really good.)
We played volleyball and I didn't hurt myself.

Also, the missionaries of our mission receive Family History Training every week, and this training for the missionaries here in Katy used to take place in Houston, about forty five minutes away from here.  This last week, President gave my companion permission to have me teach my own class to the missionaries here in Katy.  It started off pretty well I think.  I discovered Elder Jones, my district leader, is a descendant of the guy who translated the Book of Mormon into Spanish.  And although Elder Galante told me that we wouldn't find anything because 'he's from Argentina' one hour later we had 22 new family names.  :]   We were all so excited.  And are still excited.  President announced last week that the missionaries will have the opportunity to go to the temple ONLY if we can find a family name for ourselves and our companion- there is a lot of work to be done, but now all the missionaries are going on a family history craze and I have been blessed to help several of them in the last week or so.

This week we also got to go to the temple with Alicia to do baptisms for her mother and her grandmother who never had the opportunity to be baptized.   On the way there the car wouldn't start because the battery was dead and we had no way of getting there.  I remembered something very wise that my sister did once, and we decided to pray.  We said a prayer that the car would be able to work, and that all would be well, and sure enough the car started.  I know that God really does hear and answer our prayers, all we have to do is ask.

I am convinced that I get to serve in the best mission in the world.  Not only do we get to help our friends here and the people that we find follow Jesus Christ and be baptized, but we also get to help hundreds of their ancestors.  It has become one of my finer joys in life watching people save and draw closer to their families, in both phases of life.  I know that our families live on in the next life and that God wants them to be forever.  I know that they love us, and that they are cheering us on and trying for our successes.  I know that God gave us temples so that we can help those that we love receive all the joy and happiness that we have in this life.  I am so excited to help my own family in this way, and in a not so distant day enjoy a temple in my own Connecticut.

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER.  THE GOSPEL IS SO TRUE.

And if anyone has any questions about all that stuff, please ask.  I know that was kind of confusing.
Always,
Hna McCurdy

ps. Awkward photos of my district. L-O-V-E them.

This picture came from the mission blog!  I love to see the temple!

(I'm guessing this is Alicia)