Navidad en el CCM (and my branch is the best)

     I'm seriously so blessed to be surrounded by these people! They're hilarious and I learn so much from them each and every day! Our branch consists of three districts (classes). I'm just gonna list them all for you and rant about how great they are later!

     *** Branch 18 ***

-District A (the missionaries that arrived on December 3rd):

Elder Birch

Elder Mikos

Elder Jensen 

Elder Sims

Hermana Callis

Hermana Meeks

Hermana Bitton

Hermana Laub

-District B (arrived on December 17th, beginner Spanish class)

Elder Frederkisen 

Elder Greene

Elder Mitchell

Elder Vorwaller

Hermana Stanger

Hermana Martinez

Hermana Osborn

Hermana Hansen

Hermana Clarke

Hermana Walfield

-District C (my district; arrived on December 17th, intermediate Spanish class)

Elder Sandall

Elder Gonzales 

Elder Keith 

Elder Andersen (showed up a few days late, hence why he has not been mentioned before)

Hermana Curnow (ME! The Solo Sister)

Hermana Laub was my temporary companion while our companions went to choir practice. She's SO funny! We get along well and she's attempting to teach me to touch my tongue to my nose.

Hermana Clarke and Hermana Walfield are still awesome! We laugh a ton and make far too many jokes with our roommates at night. Whenever one of us accidentally does something impractical (I can't think of a better word, since we don't actually do anything bad), we call out "!Todos los pecados!" They're great :)

Elder Mitchell and Elder Vorwaller are super animated and hilarious! Elder Mitchell and I have decided that "Everyone needs an Hermana Curnow" (due to the fact that I decided not to join the choir). Elder Vorwaller does the best Golem impression ever, he managed to get inside my suitcase (it was a prop that I volunteered to bring) and he is attempting to teach me to tie a tie.

Hermana Martinez is hilarious and has this creepy look that she loves to make. It's the best! :)

Hermana Stanger is petite, but she's fierce! She's way caring and can be fiery when she needs to be (not that the need has arisen lol).

Hermana Hansen is a SUPER dedicated missionary, she's wanted to serve ever since she was a little girl!

Hermana Osborn is also really funny! All four of these sisters are in the same dorm building as us. We have fun! ;)​

​Mis compañeras son muy fantasticas. We study, we laugh, we take selfies. Such is our life! :)

And my district?

We have so much fun!

Elder Keith is from Indiana, going to serve in Oregon. He has the best sense of style ever! I look forward everyday to seeing his varied ties and socks! At first I thought he was going to be quiet. How wrong I was! He's hilarious and takes some of the best selfies!

Elder Gonzales knows much more Spanish than he'll let on. We also both swam in high school, so we talked about that for a bit. He did the IM. Which makes me feel like a weakling, but oh well! He also has the COOLEST first name ever! I've never actually met somebody named that (I can't tell you. Calling a missionary by their title is proper and respectful. So you all will never know! ;) lol) He's from Utah and will be serving in Argentina.

Elder Sandall is our district leader, and he's awesome! He's dead serious when he cracks a joke, so I've fallen for his wisecracks and pranks a couple of times. I'm still plotting revenge. He's really good at bearing his testimony in Spanish! :) Also, you can't tell from the suit, but he's built! He played basketball in high school and everybody goes to the gym, he dominates! He also likes to make art with acrylic paint, which I thought was neat! He's from a small Navajo town in Arizona (but he's white) and he'll be serving in Argentina!

Elder Andersen is a ballroom dancer from BYU. He lives in Utah and will be serving in Argentina. I don't know much else about him, since he's new.

OKAY, I'm running out of time to write! I might post multiple updates to the blog today in order to send pictures!

Please write me! You can use DearElder.com and it will get to me faster. Plus it's free!

Christmas was awesome!

I got some great packages (thank you Bakers, Andersons, Grandma Jo and parents! <3)

We got to hear from Elder Russel M, Nelson and his wife for a Christmas devotional! Way cool, learned a ton!

There was a talent show, which our district performed a skit. Others played the piano, guitar, did insane yo-yo tricks and one Sister did a Jazz show (trumpet. With her voice box. Blew my mind!).

Later we got to watch Ephraim's rescue! Great movie, I highly recommend!

AND WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Four inches of snow came overnight, and it is still snowing! :)

Today is P-Day, and I have tons of laundry to do.

I'm sorry that I'm not giving tons of details, but so much happens that I can't remember it all. Plus our time is scheduled, so everything is pretty routine.

Love you all! I'd love to hear from you individually! :)

<3

          Con amor,

         Hermana Curnow.

Memorable quotes so far:

"!Honey! ?Donde está mi traje-super?" -The Incredibles

"Yo cantando en la fiestaaaaaa..." -Nacho Libre

"Did you see his socks?" -Elder Keith

"That's my dad!" -Hermana Cluff

"People talk around her!" - Elder Keith

"!Billy la Bufanda!" -Elder Keith

" '?Que hora es?' '*GASP* !Yo no se, yo no se!" -Some beginner Spanish telenovela (not shown to us in the MTC)

"Mis caderas no miente." -Shakira

"!Todas las cosas!" -Hermana Clarke

"La lucha es real." -District A

I'll post pictures soon!

Leaving Washington

        Washington: dark green, overcast, damp, crisp, moderately chilly right now. At least, it is where I live. 

I know, it sounds like the beginning of a novel. But I've been thinking to myself: "Will I remember what Washington is like?"

I figured that it would be fun to record what I remember about my home and when I come back after my mission, I can compare what I appreciated about it pre-Florida and post-Florida.

      The people in Washington are generally nice. A fairly white, individualist culture (thank you, culture class in college). If you look across the landscape (in my part of the state), you see a blanket of forest green and a canopy of sky blue. Mostly because those colors consist of evergreen trees and the sky. Although, to be fair, the sky is covered with clouds pretty often. I wonder if I'll start to miss clouds?

    Well, now I'm just rambling like one of those people on survival reality TV. I guess that IS kind of the purpose of a blog. To ramble to nobody (seriously, I don't know if people are even reading this lol).

     The soil is fertile and saturated with water. Every shade of green can e seen on the horizon. It isn't Alaska, but I like how suburban life meets Pacific Northwest woodland.

    I took the dogs for their evening walk, and tried to describe Washington air. Crisp and cool were the only words that came to mind. I suppose that it would be like trying to describe what your house smells like. You can't tell, because you've been desensitized to it. But if you go over to a friend's house, you can smell a difference and describe it. For example, when I went to Honolulu, I noticed that the air smelt like a mix of gasoline and coconut, with a hint of salt. On the beach in Maui, I smelt sunshine (I know that it sounds silly, but I think that you can smell a difference when the sun shines powerfully) and the sea (for obvious reasons).

      ... Now I'm really rambling. I'm not even talking to anyone, I'm just typing my thoughts into a computer.

I made a list of my "lasts" (the last things that I did. These are activities that I will be unable to do on my mission. This is because my time needs to be focused on learning, teaching and serving):

1. TV shows: The Office, Duck Dynasty, Scooby-Doo.

2. Song: I Lived by OneRepublic (perfect for a pre-mission pep song)

3. Recreational book: Memoirs of a Geisha (I'm really fascinated with Japan now).

4. Movie: Nacho Libre

5. Social outing: Pantomime with my family

6. Digital drawing: Nashville (not the city)

      

***One roadtrip, mini Utah "vacation" and MTC arrival later.***

My favorite part of the roadtrip was sleeping (due to the fact that I only got 3.5 hours of sleep the night before I was set apart and starting riding to Utah. I blame it partially on the Pantomime that we saw the night before ;)  ) and eating at Yakima's Miner Burgers. They have amazing cheeseburgers and ranch sauce.

Now on to the other stuff:

Haines, Oregon: calm, empty, snug, broad. We visited the Isaacsons and their children and grandchildren for a bit. I forgot how amazing the landscape was and how surprisingly welcome that town is.

Idaho: vast, beige, bumpy, clear skies, grassy plains, highly agricultural.

Another beautiful state. The only exception to the previously listed adjectives is Boise. We stayed in the Hampton in Boise for one night, a lovely hotel. It was 32 degrees fahrenheit outside, but we could see the Boise temple across the highway! Huge bonus! :)

Utah: Reddish brown, mountainous, majestic, highly inhabited valleys, snowy, cold, dry, homey. Actually, "homey" isn't the right word; "home" is. I feel like I'm home when in Utah. I really hope to attend BYU someday so that I can live in this wonderful atmosphere for a while. I don't want to raise a family here, but attend college? Absolutely, yes! 

      We drove through Brigham City, which I recognized from last year's Provo to Rexburg roadtrip. I love how agricultural it is! We stayed in Draper with the Fairbanks family for a few nights and visited Salt Lake City and Provo. The highlights of this trip were definitely going through the SLC temple (we got to see where James E. Talmage slept while writing "Jesus the Christ"!!), seeing the Temple Lights,visiting BYU and seeing  my beloved family and friends.

     And now I'm here in the MTC! I'm running out of time to send this email to the blog, but I'll try to include everything! Nobody cried when I was dropped off, I was met by a host missionary, Sister Futata from Brisbane, Australia. I later learned that she's been here for seven weeks learning Korean, and is about to leave for one of the Seoul missions!

Anyway, she saw me and turned to Mom and exclaimed, "Oh, she's so cute!"

And it turns out, she thought my Mom was way younger than she actually was. Told ya you're good-looking, Mom. ;)

     We took my suitcases to my residence hall, left my luggage and went to Spanish class. I'm a "Solo sister", meaning I'm the only sister missionary in my class. Three Elders and myself are being taught Spanish by Hermano Barrett; a 22-year-old man from SLC who served in the Mexico Tijuana mission. English was his first language, but he only speaks to us in Spanish. I'm actually learning a ton from his classes! :) I also attend missionary classes and workshops which are SO awesome! I learn tons from them, I especially enjoyed the "People and Your Purpose Part One" workshop! I'm running out of time to type this up, so I'll explain later.

    

     I have two companions: Hermana Clarke and Hermana Walfield! They're both bubbly rays of sunshine! We share a dorm with another set of companions; Hermana Vela and Hermana Cliff (who is actually from an area near home)! Hermana Cliff makes the greatest movie/TV show references. I usually understand what she's talking about, and we have a good laugh. :)

My zone is way awesome, too! We all either speak or are learning Spanish, so we speak tons of Spanglish haha! And our branch is awesome! We all just arrived on Wednesday, so we're all the new kids. Our branch president is a professional psychologist, so we're stuck with a shrink for two weeks, LOL! ;) Just kidding, he's great! 

      

      It is my third day in the MTC and I'm already teaching a lesson in Spanish tonight. Yay! We'll see how this goes!

      Also, on orientation day, I saw Elder Stanger! We recognized each other immediately and shook hands vigorously after the meeting!

      OH! So Elder Sandall, my District Leader (the other Elders in my District are Elder Gonzales and Elder Keith) said that I got a letter. But when he went to retrieve it, it was from the MTC office. That was a little bit of a bummer. So, if you want, please send me a letter! :) I would love to hear from you folks back home! Letters and packages are HUGE here! Like, we value mail more than Hogwarts students!! 

I'm here until February 3rd, please write me! :)

        

          Sister Samantha Curnow

          FEB03  FL-FTL
          2007 N 900 E Unit  68

           Provo UT 84602 

Love you all! Yo tengo un testimonio de JesuCristo. Y JesuCristo es el camino, la luz y la vida.

              Con amor, 

           Hermana Curnow

P.S. I'm out of time, but remind me to tell you all what languages are taught here and which corners of the globe these missionaries are from! I love it! This place is a sea of smiling faces and black name tags!

Still at home.

     Well... the cat has been out of the bag for a while. So I guess I had might as well write about it.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to the zoo with some pals from EFY (Especially For Youth, an LDS summer program).

EFY, Summer of 2013. Best company ever: Just Eat It.

#efyhogwarts

    And we're all about to go serve full-time missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so naturally we decided to have an adventure before we left. The zoo yielded much entertainment and education for us.

The soon-to-be Elders, making friends at the zoo. The giraffes suspect nothing.

We needed a picture of the three of us before our missions.

       Naturally, we discussed the good times at EFY. And then a thought struck me: Five of us have received mission calls. A year and a half after that life-changing week, and five of us had accepted the call of full-time service to the church. Elder Oakes has been serving in the Philippines for about a year, and Elder Martin just departed to serve in Chile. Now (the soon-to-be) Elder Stanger will be heading to Japan and (the soon-to-be) Elder Hjelm is going to Texas, both of them report on December 17th. I was asked to report on December 3rd. 

      And this isn't even including the other members of our company that are preparing to serve missions. This happy thought tarried with me as we finished up our zoo visit and returned to the Hjelm residence to watch some Studio C. I think that our company was successful. :)

        I drove home, and then something rattling happened. I sat down in the living room across from Mom and Dad. They said that they had received a call. Of course, but stomach tied itself in a knot and I anticipated bad news. But my father informed me that the Stake President told them that he had received a call from the MTC (Missionary Training Center). They had asked me to report on December 17th instead of the 3rd, if I was able.

         Apparently, since I had placed in Intermediate Spanish on my over-the-phone language evaluation, they wanted me to report two weeks late so that I could get the full 4-6 weeks of training. I had a decision to make. I informed my parents that I would pray about it and ponder. After a restless night, I came to the conclusion that it would be best for me to report on the 17th.

         SO here I am! Sitting at home, watching the LDS Christmas Devotional, waiting for my mission. I will admit that the extra two weeks has been a blessing. I have had more time (which it turns out, I've needed) to gather belongings and prepare to leave my family for 18 months. I was even able to go out with the spanish-speaking sisters from our area one more time!

Hermanas Clarke, Singer, Killingsworth and I at the Spanish-speaking branch Christmas party.

  

   I've been blessed with the opportunity to go and teach with the Hermanas in my area for some time now. Hermanas Biggs, Huchendorf, Syphus, Olsen and Killingsworth have all helped me a ton in preparing for my mission and my Spanish vocabulary.  

  I went to the Spanish-speaking branch Christmas party on Saturday night, to see the Hermanas and the Spanish-speaking members one more time. The food was great, Hispanic food is starting to grow on me! :)

  

     The sister missionaries left before the Nativity program, but I tarried a bit longer. The branch's second counselor, Hermano Valle (sp?) and I ran into each other shortly before I left and we talked. He told me something that struck me:
"My people, the Latinos, need your help. Go in strong."
I'm going to remember that.

     In other news, John came back to town briefly. And such warranted a selfie after Sunday school.
He's something of an older brother figure, and I remember listening his farewell talk in the same chapel in which I gave mine.

 Noble, John and I. Gospel Doctrine is a grand class.

Also, Grandma Jo and Savannaah got to come stay with us for a week. Savannaah is such a darling, and was so fun!

Alex, Savaanaah and I.

They were here for my farewell open house, which was also tons of fun! The food was great. Oh, and seeing friends was pretty neat, too.

(Soon-to-be) Elder Hjelm, Cortney, myself, Brooke and Noble.

       Been spending plenty of time with Mom, filling my social 'canteen' before I leave. I've got a list of things that I need to do before I leave, so I'm working through that. Dad and I put a cover on the truck for the drive to Provo. I'm a little nervous, really excited. I think that going in is going to be like jumping into a cold lake, like at young women's camp. I just need to say bye to Mom and Dad, then take a breath and enter the MTC. After that, I'll have a very busy schedule and I will not have time to miss home. In the meantime, I'm just going about the house and getting ready to set off.
So... I don't really know how to end this blog post.

Soon I'll be able to say this. 

But if any of you guys here at home want to send me an email, I would LOVE that! My email address (after December 16th) will be samantha.curnow@myldsmail.net
The drive to Utah begins on Saturday. I'm ready to go, and the church is true!

                  With love,
              (soon-to-be) Hermana Curnow.

Last week, I left my job.

    A week ago, I left my job.
    You know, despite how often people tell me that I am a good writer, I have no idea how to start blog posts! Haha, but I'll give it a shot.
     I finished my last shift at McDonald's last Saturday. 7am-3pm. And to think that two years and ten months ago, it began with a Calvin & Hobbes crew neck.
       When I began driving, my Dad counseled me that it was time that I began to seek employment. I searched earnestly, and I'll admit I really wanted nothing to do with the food service industry. But options for a sixteen year old girl with no diploma or real skills were slim. I finally decided to apply for work at the nearby McDonald's, which was undergoing renovations at the time.
        I turned up for my first interview in a Calvin & Hobbes crew neck (I came straight from school. I know, I'm a dork). The assistant manager conducted the first interview and told me to come back for a final interview with the manager. I returned, and got the job! I didn't realize just how much this job would influence me.
I attended the local community college for my junior and senior year of high school, still working at McDonald's. Work became a social "plan B" for me in my senior year, when all but two of my friends left for college (the August birthday caused a weird age gap between my close friends and I). My life was a routine: Seminary, school, music practice, study, work, sleep, repeat. So I would look forward to work as a chance to socialize with people outside of my family. I came to really appreciate my coworkers, and look forward to seeing them. But McDonald's was not only a place where I went to earn money and occasionally refill my social canteen; it is where my journey to my mission began.
       The first Saturday of October in 2012, two missionaries came in to eat. After they went to sit down and eat their meal, I was instructed to do a quick run in the lobby (wipe tables, do a quick sweep, etc.) I had previously greeted the two Elders, and so as I wiped the table next to them the senior companion turned to talk to me.
"Did you see the morning session of General Conference?"
I hadn't. I was at work. He went on to inform me about a huge announcement that had been broadcasted in the Saturday morning session:
Eligible young men could now serve at the age of 18, and eligible young women could serve at the age of 19.
This. Was. HUGE.
       Previously, young men had to wait until the age of 19 and young women until 21 to serve a full-time mission. It was all that I could think about as I got off of work and went to get ready for Homecoming! I had contemplated serving a mission, and now I could do so two years sooner!
The thought of serving a mission had crossed my mind before, but now I was determined. I was going to serve a mission.
      The more I prepared to serve, the more I knew that this was the right path for me. I took on more hours at work, in order to support myself over the upcoming 18 months (missionaries are not paid for their work. All of their efforts are a voluntary service). Finally, my mission call came. And then I received my endowment in the temple.
And now here I am, spending these short few weeks preparing to preach the gospel in Spanish and serve the people of Florida. It's a pretty big gap from the high school sophomore looking for her first job.
      I was pretty sad about having to leave McDonald's. Change can be tough, even if you're moving on and heading for something greater. And I have no doubt that I will carry the lessons that I learned and memories that I made at McDonald's with me into my mission and throughout the rest of my days.
      I am ecstatic to serve as a full-time missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
                 Yours truly,
               soon-to-be Hermana Curnow.

                                        Aidan snapped a quick pic before I left my last shift.

                                              Mel and I (she was 'Mr. Frodo' and I was Sam).

            A post-work twin picture with Katie (people were constantly confusing us with each other).

I turned in my two weeks notice during the 'Monopoly season'. These are the only four Monopoly pieces that I care about, and now I get to use them! ;)

Barb and I, all dressed up for the employee Halloween party!

Well, hi! Welcome to my blog! :) In 44 days, I will report to the Provo MTC to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I'll be teaching the gospel in Spanish and I will be serving in Florida! This blog will be a way of keeping friends and family updated while I am serving as a missionary. I plan to post blog updates via email (though I'm still not entirely sure how to do that... I'd better figure that out, haha!). As I continue to learn Spanish, I hope to post an English and a Spanish version of each post, for the convenience of native Spanish speakers and for fun! I'll post more once I actually start to serve. Thanks for stopping by!
        Love, soon-to-be-Hermana Curnow.