This week, some Jehovah's witnesses asked us if we wanted to go play tennis with them. Hence the title of this email. Haha that was awkward.
This week was awesome! For starters, I blocked my second goal in my entire soccer career- Hna Wallace kicks a soccer ball REALLY hard.
This week we had an impromptu-ish zone meeting. (A zone is a group of missionaries that all work together. Usually, they are made up of two districts. In a district can be anywhere from 2-4 companionships of missionaries. Our zone has 14 missionaries in it.). We had a counsel about our zone, the problems it was facing, and the things that we wanted to see happen in it. It ended when we buried our misconceptions and bad feelings and thoughts out in a field behind the Stake Center to get rid of them. We set a goal as a team that we wanted to be able to have 21 of our investigators come to church four Sunday's from now, and that we were going to set a goal of 16 for this week and work our way up to it. We fasted and prayed and then on Sunday 21 PEOPLE CAME TO CHURCH! It was so exciting to see! Great things are surely happening here. :)
We helped one lady in our ward with family history this week. She has wanted to do it for 3 years and never knew how. We found 12 names and she printed them out right there. She was crying so hard from happiness it was one of the best feelings in the world. Families are forever!! Family History is the Best! Do Family History! ;)
We had a baptism in our ward this week for a cute little family of three. We did a musical number. It went well we think.
We visited with the the Barrera family this week and we showed them this cute video of a bunch of different people singing, "I Am a Child of God." (Link below). After we had watched the video and talked about it, Hna Barrera said that she loves the song, "Soy un hijo de Dios" or "I am a Child of God" because it was the very first song that she sang when she started looking into the church, and that the first time she sang it was when she converted. My whole perspective on that song did a 180. Sometimes I think we take this song lightly. But the message, I believe is the most powerful thing that we can ever come to believe or act upon. When we truly know that we are children of God there is nothing we cannot do, and nothing that we cannot become. I know that we are children of an Almighty God who loves un infinitely. That is why He sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come to the world. I hope and pray that we can all come to know it, live it, and become it.
I love you all! Have a great week, and PLEASE let me know if I can do anything for you :)
Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy
Monday, June 27, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Week 51 - The week of Selfies
I entitled this email the week of the selfies because when I looked through all the pictures that I had to send to you all, they were all selfies!
LOTS OF AWESOME STUFF HAPPENED THIS WEEK!
I ate a chocolate frog, and loved it.
I saw Hermana Gutierrez in a church parking lot for about three minutes! :D We had a Spanish Leadership Council, and I was asked to play the piano. :/ Thank you for the prayers haha I needed them, but it worked out really well! God really does qualify us in the moments that we need help :) in fact I would say that it was a small miracle. Also, President Mortensen, our Mission President, can be unexpectedly sassy when he speaks Spanish sometimes. He served his mission speaking Spanish in Puerto Rico, which is so nice because he gets the culture and everything.
DANI GOT BAPTIZED! That was a little girl that Hermana Childs and I found while we were in Katy. I was so happy when I heard that I wanted to jump into the air and click my heels together, but I refrained. :) I am so happy for that little girl. :)
Hna Wallace and I made up a secret handshake.
We had a Father's Day Party at the church, but we were thirty minutes late because we were in a lesson. When we got there we were the first ones there! For a moment we were really worried there was actually no party, which would have been really awkward because we told a lot of people. But, it all worked out in the end, everyone just came on Standard Mormon Hispanic Time, aka an hour and a half late. It was a great party! The Conroe 3rd Ward has the best parties!
At church yesterday we were so busy it was a slightly stressful! We were the Ward Pianist, Singing Time Leaders, and taught the lesson in Relief Society. Singing time was by far my favorite. So much for Sunday being the day of rest. ;)
We were also out knocking doors and this one lady let us right in and fed us soup with Pig Feet in it (I could literally see the hooves. Luckily she didn't make us eat that part, because I couldn't have done it I think.) We got to teach her family and they are super nice and we are going back on Tuesday :)
I went on exchanges with Hna Christensen. She is super cute. I love her! (Exchanges is when we switch companions for a day).
Also, HAPPY LATE FATHER'S DAY! I am so grateful for the father and grandfather's in my life! I don't know where I would be without him! He has always been an example for me of how to be a hard worker and a card shark (among many other things). :) I know that he also learned those things from his dad, and that my mom learned how to show love unconditionally, make cookies, and crack jokes from hers. I know that we are all blessed to have such wonderful men in our lives. Just like we have Earthly Fathers, I also know that we have a Heavenly Father, who created us. He is equally as involved in our lives and loves us even more. I am grateful for everything that He has given me, although I do not always understand what that everything is. Here is a link to a great video about Fathers for those of you who would like to see it. (I don't know what happened to the link!)
I Know that our Savior lives and that He loves us. I know that He was sent here by God, our Heavenly Father, who loves us infinitely too. May you each have a marvelous week, and please let me know if you need anything.
Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy
LOTS OF AWESOME STUFF HAPPENED THIS WEEK!
I ate a chocolate frog, and loved it.
I saw Hermana Gutierrez in a church parking lot for about three minutes! :D We had a Spanish Leadership Council, and I was asked to play the piano. :/ Thank you for the prayers haha I needed them, but it worked out really well! God really does qualify us in the moments that we need help :) in fact I would say that it was a small miracle. Also, President Mortensen, our Mission President, can be unexpectedly sassy when he speaks Spanish sometimes. He served his mission speaking Spanish in Puerto Rico, which is so nice because he gets the culture and everything.
DANI GOT BAPTIZED! That was a little girl that Hermana Childs and I found while we were in Katy. I was so happy when I heard that I wanted to jump into the air and click my heels together, but I refrained. :) I am so happy for that little girl. :)
Hna Wallace and I made up a secret handshake.
We had a Father's Day Party at the church, but we were thirty minutes late because we were in a lesson. When we got there we were the first ones there! For a moment we were really worried there was actually no party, which would have been really awkward because we told a lot of people. But, it all worked out in the end, everyone just came on Standard Mormon Hispanic Time, aka an hour and a half late. It was a great party! The Conroe 3rd Ward has the best parties!
At church yesterday we were so busy it was a slightly stressful! We were the Ward Pianist, Singing Time Leaders, and taught the lesson in Relief Society. Singing time was by far my favorite. So much for Sunday being the day of rest. ;)
We were also out knocking doors and this one lady let us right in and fed us soup with Pig Feet in it (I could literally see the hooves. Luckily she didn't make us eat that part, because I couldn't have done it I think.) We got to teach her family and they are super nice and we are going back on Tuesday :)
I went on exchanges with Hna Christensen. She is super cute. I love her! (Exchanges is when we switch companions for a day).
Also, HAPPY LATE FATHER'S DAY! I am so grateful for the father and grandfather's in my life! I don't know where I would be without him! He has always been an example for me of how to be a hard worker and a card shark (among many other things). :) I know that he also learned those things from his dad, and that my mom learned how to show love unconditionally, make cookies, and crack jokes from hers. I know that we are all blessed to have such wonderful men in our lives. Just like we have Earthly Fathers, I also know that we have a Heavenly Father, who created us. He is equally as involved in our lives and loves us even more. I am grateful for everything that He has given me, although I do not always understand what that everything is. Here is a link to a great video about Fathers for those of you who would like to see it. (I don't know what happened to the link!)
I Know that our Savior lives and that He loves us. I know that He was sent here by God, our Heavenly Father, who loves us infinitely too. May you each have a marvelous week, and please let me know if you need anything.
Always,
Hermana Madison McCurdy
Andrea, Yo, Esmerelda, and Hna Christensen on exchanges.
Hna Wallace, Yo, y Francelia in Schlotsky's, a restaurant in which Francelia works.
The sky yesterday
Dani's baptism (I didn't get to go, but isn't she adorable? And also Hna Jorgensen.
She is adorable too.)
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Week 50 - "Chiste que? Chiste que? Oh no! On no!" Hermano Ayala
This week. What happened this week.
Chistes first. I got chased by a dog. Haha. I kind of did that thing where I lose my ability to consciously move and what I will do is very unexpected. In this case I did nothing and Hna Wallace grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me out of there. Without her I probably would have been dog food or just super embarrassed. I am thankful for a quick thinking, caring, beautiful companion. ;)
The sky was super pretty.
We went to a bunch of meetings this week and it is beginning to kill our miles. We have 1700 miles for the whole month of June for the car and still we wonder if it will be enough. We had conference calls with the Assistants, and some stake meetings in Woodlands, and then this week we have more. Meetings are fun! I think we are figuring out about the innards workings of stakes, missions, and wards.
Last monday after we had finished all we had to do we went to the mall to pet a baby pig. Mondays are what we call "Preparation Day" or "P-Day" which means from 10:30-6 is our time. Also when we were at the mall we ran into Esperanza, one of our old investigators who asked us not to come over anymore. That, and the fact the Hna Wallace accidentally called her "Esmeralda" made it really awkward haha. But, if you don't act like it's awkward no one knows. Esperanza's baby is super cute though, so that was a bonus.
We volunteer at a home called "the (East Texas) Dream Center" here in Conroe. The building used to be a hospital, but it is now a home for women that need help getting back on their feet and want to strengthen their relationship with God. (Sometimes while we are working I like to make up stories about the things that happened in the room where we are when it used to be a hospital.) They have a school, a store, a doctor, and a bunch of other things in there. That is one thing that I love about Texas. The people are super kind, always want to help others, everyone is SUPER patriotic about something, and they are not afraid to say 'Merry Christmas' or put 'In God We Trust' on their police cars.
One of our members gave us the name of someone to go teach this week, and her name is Reina Espinoza. She is so AWESOME! If you could please pray for her that would be great :) We went over and she started crying about five times in the lesson but in the end she promised us that she would read the Book of Mormon because she knows that it will strengthen her family. That is what I love about the gospel. There is literally NOTHING, no wound, no pain, no hurt, no weakness, that the Savior and His gospel cannot heal or overcome. I hope and pray that we can all have the courage and strength to follow Jesus Christ. I know that in Him all our hurts will be made strengths and that there we find joy in becoming something better.
I love all of you! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help any of you. :)
Hermana Madison McCurdy
And now a few words from Hermana Wallace. She copied me in her email list and I thought these few paragraphs were interesting for a couple of reasons, so I thought I would share. Notice Madison didn't mention it and further notice how much they sound like twins in their use of language….
Okay, now the news (in case my bitty email didn't go through last week): Hermana McCurdy and I are staying together! We got the call on Sunday night telling us she was staying, and she almost didn't believe it. I'm the first companion she's been with for two transfers besides her trainer. It's like God knew we were best friends or something.*
Chistes first. I got chased by a dog. Haha. I kind of did that thing where I lose my ability to consciously move and what I will do is very unexpected. In this case I did nothing and Hna Wallace grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me out of there. Without her I probably would have been dog food or just super embarrassed. I am thankful for a quick thinking, caring, beautiful companion. ;)
The sky was super pretty.
We went to a bunch of meetings this week and it is beginning to kill our miles. We have 1700 miles for the whole month of June for the car and still we wonder if it will be enough. We had conference calls with the Assistants, and some stake meetings in Woodlands, and then this week we have more. Meetings are fun! I think we are figuring out about the innards workings of stakes, missions, and wards.
Last monday after we had finished all we had to do we went to the mall to pet a baby pig. Mondays are what we call "Preparation Day" or "P-Day" which means from 10:30-6 is our time. Also when we were at the mall we ran into Esperanza, one of our old investigators who asked us not to come over anymore. That, and the fact the Hna Wallace accidentally called her "Esmeralda" made it really awkward haha. But, if you don't act like it's awkward no one knows. Esperanza's baby is super cute though, so that was a bonus.
We volunteer at a home called "the (East Texas) Dream Center" here in Conroe. The building used to be a hospital, but it is now a home for women that need help getting back on their feet and want to strengthen their relationship with God. (Sometimes while we are working I like to make up stories about the things that happened in the room where we are when it used to be a hospital.) They have a school, a store, a doctor, and a bunch of other things in there. That is one thing that I love about Texas. The people are super kind, always want to help others, everyone is SUPER patriotic about something, and they are not afraid to say 'Merry Christmas' or put 'In God We Trust' on their police cars.
One of our members gave us the name of someone to go teach this week, and her name is Reina Espinoza. She is so AWESOME! If you could please pray for her that would be great :) We went over and she started crying about five times in the lesson but in the end she promised us that she would read the Book of Mormon because she knows that it will strengthen her family. That is what I love about the gospel. There is literally NOTHING, no wound, no pain, no hurt, no weakness, that the Savior and His gospel cannot heal or overcome. I hope and pray that we can all have the courage and strength to follow Jesus Christ. I know that in Him all our hurts will be made strengths and that there we find joy in becoming something better.
I love all of you! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help any of you. :)
Hermana Madison McCurdy
Hna Glavan took us out to eat. I love that woman. She also loves family history.
Coincidence? I think not.
Look at this cool church we found! Er, I mean, shopping mall in Woodlands.
#Woodlands
My cute companion with the statue. You can't see it in this picture but she is wearing Nikes because she forgot her other shoes at home.
Our last picture as a district before Elder Bassett went home. He's the one with the shoulder bag. :(
And now a few words from Hermana Wallace. She copied me in her email list and I thought these few paragraphs were interesting for a couple of reasons, so I thought I would share. Notice Madison didn't mention it and further notice how much they sound like twins in their use of language….
Okay, now the news (in case my bitty email didn't go through last week): Hermana McCurdy and I are staying together! We got the call on Sunday night telling us she was staying, and she almost didn't believe it. I'm the first companion she's been with for two transfers besides her trainer. It's like God knew we were best friends or something.*
Then, before we got too comfortable, we got the call on Monday night telling us that Hermana McCurdy is the new STL (Sister Training Leader) in our zone! Basically that means that she's in charge of a lot of following up on other missionaries, going to other areas on exchanges, and that our companionship is supposed to be examples for everybody else. It's kind of intimidating for her, but I know she'll do a great job.
Overall the zone has a lot of new leadership. Our former district leader, Elder Pogroszewski, is now a zone leader, and we have a new district leader. I think it will be good for us, because it really pushes us to kick it into high gear. We're setting a lot of baptism goals, and we're trying to be more unified. I won't go into it too much more so it doesn't sound like an update on some company ("and overall our synergy has leveragized to be exponentially more digbotolized"), but I feel really inspired.
Ha ha, you gotta love those two- Taking on Texas one dog at a time!
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Week 49 - Too busy for words…but pictures work!
Hey everyone :) sorry I don't have very much time today!
But things here in Conroe are very very good :)
But things here in Conroe are very very good :)
This week we got to go the temple
And we had zone meeting
And then we were silly at zone meeting
Also look at this funny picture we found
And we got to hold a pig
And here's one more...
Love you all! Sorry I can't respond much today!
Hermana McCurdy
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Week 48 - Thunder like gunshots!
This week was intense.
For starters, I cut six inches off my hair last monday. It looks good I think, but then I have always been a really bad judge of these things.
We got to work at a butterfly and hummingbird garden that needed a lot of help after the floods last month. We helped them repair their garden and we met this super smart lady who worked at NASA.
We also met this man who preached to us about the Presidential Elections that are coming up, but we can't watch anything about politics, so we just stood there and smiled at him. It was super funny though.
Then on Wednesday, we met some really weird people and more weird things happened to us, but as this is Conroe, I am not surprised. If anyone would like a detail of what those things are, please just ask us. :)
THEN ON THURSDAY- We had a weekly planning training in Houston and got home at about 3:00. We had a meeting in the church at 4. We were in the meeting when we were interrupted by the sound of heavy rain, so of course we went to investigate. It was probably the worst thunderstorm I have ever seen/been awake and above ground for. We started getting flash flood warnings and then the power went out. The sky went green and we started to get tornado warnings. The thunder sounded like gunshots. It actually did flash flood (including everywhere around the church and we were stranded for hours) and we spent the night pushing cars that had stalled in high water. There were some that were completely buried. We saw a firetruck plowing through high water towing a rescue boat behind them. We found an assisted living home where they were all huddled in the common area with their flashlights and so we sand hymns with them for an hour and the storm went on about us. Once when we were pushing a car backward up a hill there was a huge crash and we looked up to see a huge tree collapse on top of a car. It was really freaky. The highways up here were flooded over and a lot of roads were completely blocked.
Our power was out for three days.
It is also funny because this storm hit Conroe and the Woodlands and Houston didn't get it hardly bad at all. Hermana Wallace and I think that the flash flooding is following us. Ha ha.
So that was my week. No power, and no hot water, wet all the time (as it kept raining) and yet we found so many people to help. I loved singing in the Old Folks home and pushing damaged cars. We are so blessed to have a God who loves us and created this earth for us. I know that no matter how horrible the storms of life that come, as long as we build our lives on Jesus Christ, we will never ever fall. That even in the world we can be strong and immovable in our faith and in our hope of things to come.
I love you all so much, and please pray for those in Conroe who still do not have power. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for any of you. Thank you for all of your prayers. I know that they kept us safe.
Always,
Hermana McCurdy
For starters, I cut six inches off my hair last monday. It looks good I think, but then I have always been a really bad judge of these things.
We got to work at a butterfly and hummingbird garden that needed a lot of help after the floods last month. We helped them repair their garden and we met this super smart lady who worked at NASA.
We also met this man who preached to us about the Presidential Elections that are coming up, but we can't watch anything about politics, so we just stood there and smiled at him. It was super funny though.
Then on Wednesday, we met some really weird people and more weird things happened to us, but as this is Conroe, I am not surprised. If anyone would like a detail of what those things are, please just ask us. :)
THEN ON THURSDAY- We had a weekly planning training in Houston and got home at about 3:00. We had a meeting in the church at 4. We were in the meeting when we were interrupted by the sound of heavy rain, so of course we went to investigate. It was probably the worst thunderstorm I have ever seen/been awake and above ground for. We started getting flash flood warnings and then the power went out. The sky went green and we started to get tornado warnings. The thunder sounded like gunshots. It actually did flash flood (including everywhere around the church and we were stranded for hours) and we spent the night pushing cars that had stalled in high water. There were some that were completely buried. We saw a firetruck plowing through high water towing a rescue boat behind them. We found an assisted living home where they were all huddled in the common area with their flashlights and so we sand hymns with them for an hour and the storm went on about us. Once when we were pushing a car backward up a hill there was a huge crash and we looked up to see a huge tree collapse on top of a car. It was really freaky. The highways up here were flooded over and a lot of roads were completely blocked.
Our power was out for three days.
It is also funny because this storm hit Conroe and the Woodlands and Houston didn't get it hardly bad at all. Hermana Wallace and I think that the flash flooding is following us. Ha ha.
So that was my week. No power, and no hot water, wet all the time (as it kept raining) and yet we found so many people to help. I loved singing in the Old Folks home and pushing damaged cars. We are so blessed to have a God who loves us and created this earth for us. I know that no matter how horrible the storms of life that come, as long as we build our lives on Jesus Christ, we will never ever fall. That even in the world we can be strong and immovable in our faith and in our hope of things to come.
I love you all so much, and please pray for those in Conroe who still do not have power. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for any of you. Thank you for all of your prayers. I know that they kept us safe.
Always,
Hermana McCurdy
Training car selfie while waiting for someone to unlock the church
Everyone crazy in the rain.
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