Adios, Elderes

   This week was a little rough. I had to say goodbye to my district. I was in the intermediate Spanish district, but Fort Lauderdale transfers are a little later than others, apparently. So I had to watch my new best friends pack up and go to Argentina and Oregon. It was harder than I thought. Elder Keith and I both love Rice Krispie treats and if they were serving them at lunch, we would grab 2 (one for both of us). They were serving them a few days ago, and I only got one. Kinda depressing.

    The new District A is adjusting well, so that's good. I don't know the elders in District A very well, but the sisters are Hermana Dickey, Hermana Humphrey, Hermana Cones and Hermana Ashcraft.

    Oh!!! I accumulated some awesome stuff from the free bins and other sisters in our dorm building! I am now the proud owner of 6 cans of play doh, a special bubble wand (thank you Hermana Laub!), bubble wrap from various packages and 7 packs of Reeses' cups from Hermana Hansen (her sister sent her a ton).

    It has been cool in District B. They're an awesome bunch and I'm glad that I get to spend some more time with them before all they leave for Costa Rica, Panama, or California.

     It is so weird to think that I'll be in Florida in less than 4 days. I've got my travel itinerary and I'll have a layover in Atlanta, Georgia. I need to buy a phone card so that I can call my family during that time. I've met two people going to Fort Lauderdale, Spanish-speaking. They seem pretty cool, and I haven't met many people going to the same mission as me. 

    FUNNY STORY!!! -

      So Hermana Clarke got up to get a glass of water at dinner and I was bored, so I started clapping for her as she left. I turned to the zone and conspired with 6 other people. We decided that when she sat down with her glass of water, we would start applauding her. So she did, we started to clap, and then OUR ENTIRE SIDE OF THE CAFETERIA STARTED CLAPPING. Hundreds of missionaries were applauding! They had no idea that we were cheering for a sister that got a glass of water. 4 other elders came over with their trays and asked what was up. Hermana Walfield exclaimed "She got a glass of water!!!" It was the proudest moment of my life. We were in tears with laughter and Hermana Clarke was SO CONFUSED. I even earned the approving handshakes of Elder Mitchell and Elder Vorwaller. It was cool. A stupid idea that turned into something hilarious. The End.

       Ummm... what else has happened?... Oh, so I'm pretty buff now. For my last gym period, I ran two miles nonstop. I wanted to die by the end of it, but that's okay. I've been increasing my endurance, doing sit-ups, benching 180 pounds on this thigh-workout machine-thingy and I can do a hanging chin-up for 60 seconds. So I'm basically a bodybuilder now.

     Hermana Clarke, Hermana Walfield and I have decided to start initiating bending-battles with each other. Apparently we all love Avatar: The Last Airbender. Hermana Clarke is a water-bender, Hermana Walfield is an earth-bender and I'm a fire-bender. So now we start bending our elements at each other randomly. It's kinda the best thing ever. We tried to explain it to Hermano Castro and Hermano Barrett. Hermano Barrett just laughed and exclaimed that he could easily imagine us having bending battles in our dorm. Cool stuff.

      Apparently Elder Kyle Martin is doing fantastic in Chile. And got kissed by a puppy! I love getting emails from other missionaries. And letters, letters are the best! :)

      If anyone wants to write me in Florida, here is the address:

        Hermana Curnow

        7951 SW Sixth St.

        Suite 110

        Fort Lauderdale, FL

        33324-3211 

I've already started putting this return address on my envelopes (since I'll only be in the MTC for a few more days).

       My testimony of the priesthood has been strengthened so much in the time that I've been here. It's one of the reasons that leaving the MTC is going to be so bittersweet. Being stuck in a room of elders for 8 hours a day for six weeks has caused me to see how much the elders have grown in so little time. And when I've been privileged to witness them using that authority, I feel the Spirit so strongly. Not only District C, but in District B as well. So many people have asked me in my time here: "What is it like to be a solo sister?" This is the answer: Being a solo sister has been a blessing. I have learned something so very important from each of the elders in District C and they've become some of my greatest friends.

       And that is all that I have for you today. Sorry that these blog posts are so short, I can give you better answers in letters. Love you all! !La iglesia es verdadera!

          Con mucho amor,

        ~Hermana Curnow

"Let me get my vaseline, you gone slide!!!" -Hermana Walfield (describing ghetto fights)

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Eternally busy January 23rd, 2015 & Elder Ballard

   We are the luckiest zone ever. In the time that we've been here, we've been graced by the presence of the following: Elder Russel M. Nelson (he spoke to us TWICE), Richard Elliott, David Archuleta, Richard Heaton, Greg Droughby and Elder M. Russell Ballard.

HOLY COW. We are so blessed to have had these amazing opportunities. Elder Ballard spoke to us for the Tuesday night devotional, which was amazing.

    Ummm... What's new? Oh. So Elder Sandall and Elder Greene are skilled with harmonicas. Elder Mitchell caught a live fly on the temple walk, and let it go (it flew away. Elder Mitchell is a sensei). Elder Keith continues to quote Angela Johnson all the time. And it doesn't get old! :)

    We had In-Field Orientation. That last for NINE HOURS. Holy moly I had such a headache at the end of the day! But one of the teachers was Brother J. Tyler Christensen (he was Elder Christensen in the Preach My Gospel- The District training videos). Neat stuff. And our Branch President Carpenter and his wife have known Sister Myers from the videos since she was a four year old girl. COOL STUFF.

    We have a new district! 4 Elders, 4 Hermanas. They're all great and adjusting to missionary life. :)   OH, hey I leave to Florida in just over a week. If you all want to write me there (PLEASE) the letters will probably take about a week to get there. My mission home address is:

    Hermana Samantha Curnow

   7951 SW 6th Street, Suite 110

   Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33324-3211

My district is leaving for their missions on Monday. :( I'm way sad about this. I have to stay an extra week because Florida transfers are later than those in Argentina and Oregon. Our district is going to perform a musical number in sacrament, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". I know that I'm going to miss these elders so much. We've become such good friends.

    Ummm... What else to write... Oh! Check out Elder Gonzalez's blog, elderraulgonzalez.blogspot.com

    Time still doesn't make sense here. It is simultaneously fast and slow. 

I'm jogging at least a mile every gym time. Doing about 30 sit-ups, benching 180 lbs. on the thigh work-out thing and I can do a hanging pull-up for 60 seconds. I love how strong I'm getting, and exercise really is the best stress-reliever here! :)

      Missionary work is the busiest and most stressful thing I've ever done. I haven't even left the MTC yet. I've been emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically taxed in ways that I couldn't imagine to be possible. And it is the best experience of my life. Not a day goes by that I regret this decision, no matter how difficult the language is or how hard it is to identify the needs of those you teach.

      I SO don't have time to type anything else, but know that I love you all! I encourage all of you to share your testimony as often as you can and spread that which you know to be true. Write me letters if you want to contact me! <3

      Con MUCHO amor,

  ~Hermana Curnow

Elder Russel M. Nelson: Round two!

     "Happy P-Day Eve!" has become a common saying in our zone on Thursday nights. Because Preparation Days at the MTC are AWESOME! Here's why:

We get to wake up in the morning, go to the temple and do a session as a zone (my favorite part of the day), eat breakfast at the temple, while my comps write letters/in their journals I take a long shower, then at 2:15 we do laundry, write some more letters and after dinner we have class again and we get to teach our investigators! Yay! :D I love P-days!

     Elder Sandall, Elder Anderson and I taught our last lesson with Brian Solis last night. :( It was sad, but we've had some great laughs with him and his testimony has grown TREMENDOUSLY. I'm proud of him. Oscar Villegas is progressing very well and tonight we get to teach Victor, who is a bit tough, but he has a desire to learn. 

      Two other awesome things happened this week! For our Tuesday night devotional, we were once again able to have Elder Russel M. Nelson speak to us! SO AWESOME! :D And Elder Keith got to give the opening prayer and Hermana Stanger gave the benediction. The rest of our zone acted as ushers. That was legit!! Sometimes the ushers can be a little pushy, but we all did our best to be Christ-like in helping everyone seat themselves so that we could fit all of the missionaries in. The elders became fond of wearing a "Secret service" expression as part of their ushering duty.

       Presidents and Sisters Nally, Hacking and Roach have been released from the Provo MTC Presidency calling. Gonna miss them. Still don't know who our new presidency consists of. Our district was taught by President and Sister DuVall the other night. On Monday they will fly down to serve as the MTC President and Relief Society President for the Colombia MTC. They spoke to us about how all of our actions should be in line with the Missionary Purpose. I really enjoyed that lesson! :)

        On Wednesday we got to host!!! That was SO FUN!! What happened was our zone was asked to serve as host missionaries for the new arrivals. So we all got these fancy white stickers that say "New Missionary Host". Then we stood on the curb while the cars pulled in. Last Wednesday, the sticky notes on the cars were pink for arriving sisters and yellow for arriving elders (that way, a sister could know in advance when a sister was pulling into her area, and same for elders). We greet the family, let them say their last goodbyes and help them with their bags. We then take the new missionaries to 1M, they get their tag and other essential items, and meet us at the other end of the building where we wait with their luggage. They then go through the bookstore, get their bag of study supplies and we take them to their dorm. We throw their suitcases in their dorm, find their classroom and leave them there to start learning. Afterwards, it is back to the curb to find another missionary to host. I got to host 3 new sisters yesterday. :) One was going to El Salvador (Spanish speaking), one to New Jersey (English speaking) and another to Germany (German speaking). They were all so sweet and ready to start their missions! They were all curious as to why I kept enthusiastically greeting certain elders and hermanas. I simply explained that they were in my zone, and your zone becomes a close family. :) I'm so happy that they get to experience that. 

We got 320 new missionaries in the span of one hour (that is how long the whole week's drop offs last).

          District A left for Argentina. Love them lots, miss them, but I know that they'll do amazing in Argentina! <3

          The Elders in my district would like to thank my sweet mother for the cookies she sent them, and for pictures she printed out for them. Elder Gonzalez and Elder Keith were THRILLED to receive letters from Gus. They think he is the coolest. They're not wrong. :)

         Hermana Stanger's birthday was yesterday. So we ate a ton of junk food before 10:15. Good times, hahaha!

         For those of you who have written me and not received responses, I am deeply sorry! I'm trying to catch up and reply to all of the letters, but know that I appreciate them so much! <3

If any of you are not aware, my email address is: samantha.curnow@myldsmail.net 

       My mailing address (until February 3rd) is:

Sister Samantha Curnow

FEB03  FL-FTL
2007 N 900 E Unit  68
Provo UT 84602

OH! And Elder Keith also has a blog, too! Check it out! eldertannerkeith.blogspot.com

LOVE YOU ALL!!!    !El Evangelio es verdadero!

   Con amor, 

~Hermana Curnow

Memorable quotes:

1. "I can't believe there's an outside world!" -Hermana Curnow

    "There's an outside world?!" -Elder Vorwaller

    "Don't listen, it's a lie, Elder." -Elder Mitchell

2. "On Wednesdays we wear pink." -Hermana Stanger and Hermana Curnow, regarding Branch 18's new tradition.

3. "I'm puttin' on my pants, woman!" -Hermanas Curnow, Clarke and Walfield 

P.S. I promise that I don't come up with all of the quotes, I just can't remember a ton at the second LOL.

El CCM es el mejor

   That means, "the MTC is the best" in Spanish! :)

I'm learning so much Spanish! I speak a healthy mix of "Spanglish" all day everyday at this point, and I'm starting to understand a great deal of the Spanish edition of the Book of Mormon.

Last Sunday we got to see the MTC Devotional video "The Character of Christ" by Elder David A. Bednar. It was my second time seeing it, and it is so amazing! I gotta take advantage of watching it, because the MTC is the only place where it is available to watch.

Elder Sandall's sprained ankle is almost healed, so all is well again in our district.

I've been craving music lately. I have these hardcore desires to listen to Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis. But hymns do a good job of filling the void. :)

OH! I now understand this Spanish video! Give it a look! It is my favorite inspirational video, and if you want to see it in English, google search "Because of Him LDS".

http://pascua.mormon.org/

We got to do a session as a zone at the temple today! District A is heading to Argentina on Monday (yo creo...) so we did one last session together and then ate in the cafeteria afterwards. We were SO excited to have non-MTC food. The food here isn't bad, but it gets old after a few weeks.

HOLY COW. How long have I been here? 1/18th of my mission is over and I feel like I just got here! Craziness!!!!!

I got really frustrated two nights ago. Everyone says that a mission is way difficult, but it is super hard to describe how. I'll do my best: You are overcome with love for the other missionaries, your investigators, your family. You are often baffled by the language that you are in the process of learning. And you are overwhelmed and sometimes completely stumped on how to help your investigators.

All you can really think about is how to help others and how much you want to learn. But it is a very good thing. :)

Hermano Martinez (one of my teachers) sat down with me and expressed to me that I was being really hard on myself. I told him that I felt insufficient. He paused to think, and I could tell that the Spirit was speaking to him. And then he instructed me to study a few verses with him. Afterward, he spoke to me with more power than anyone else has ever done before in my life. It is amazing how the Spirit can instruct us how to help others.

Las escrituras:

Moises 1

DyC 4:3

Eter 12:27

Ummm... what else do you all want to know about? I can't think of much. (Write me some ideas! ;) )

Jogging is becoming easy. Elder Keith and I have set goals to complete some pull-ups before we leave.

My sketches are getting better (a tender mercy, no doubt)!

OH! Another teacher, Hermano Castro helped Hermano Martinez teach yesterday. We were supposed to have a conversation with him, to practice our Spanish contacting skills. 

***Elders Sandall, Anderson and Gonzalez are going to be serving in Argentina and Hermano Castro served there. Important detail.***

So Elder Sandall, Elder Anderson and I are about to talk to him, and Hermano Castro starts speaking regular Spanish. Then he stops suddenly, points at the elders and says "You two are going to Argentina, right?" They said yes, and he IMMEDIATELY switched to speaking this crazy dialect!!! Castishano (I don't know if I spelt that right) is this Spanish dialect that Argentinians speak, and it is SUPER difficult to understand!

Basically, they pronounce a ton of common Spanish letter combos with a "j-zshhh" sound. We just kinda started cracking up because we understood nothing.

Hermana Cluff has some jeans that fit literally all of the sisters perfectly! We now have an "Hermana-hood of the traveling pants" LOL!

AHH! I'm out of email time! Love you all!

Con amor,

Hermana Curnow.

El don de lenguas

     So apparently, the LDSmail platform will only let me send 2 pictures at a time. So I won't be posting many. If you want to see some, talk to my Mom. :)

      Anyway, another busy week!

So far, my district has been taught by Hermano Barrett, Hermano Martinez, Hermano Tuft, Hermana Bond and Hermano Rios. All of them are great teachers and have different strengths.

My companions and I are doing well!

Hermana Clarke and I got sick, but we're almost healed. :)

Hermana Walfield never fails to make me laugh, and she gets along well with the super chill Polynesians here in the MTC!

I'm really starting to kick booty in gym. When you spend as much time as we do inside and studying various things, you need an outlet. I can feel myself getting stronger and I'm building endurance as I jog. 

      Hermano Martinez taught me something very profound about the gift of tongues. I expressed to him that I was frustrated that I'm not learning to conjugate verbs as quickly as I had hoped and how much better he was at speaking Spanish. He basically told me not to stress, he was in Mexico learning to speak Spanish for 2 years, and I had only been in the MTC for 2 weeks.

He showed me a scripture from Moroni, told me how all good things come from God. 

I have the gift of tongues. If I didn't I would be speaking Spanish in this moment. The gift isn't instant, and it takes work. But it is there nonetheless.

  

         My district and zone are still great, we bond and become closer with each day! PLEASE write me! I appreciate emails, but due to the limited time it is very difficult to respond properly. Thank you all for keeping in touch with me, though. <3

        

         So we had a devotional on Sunday night (12-28-2014). It was more music-oriented, and RICHARD ELLIOTT AND DAVID ARCHULETA performed!

Holy cow! I was so excited when I saw them!

Brother Archuleta spoke about some experiences about his mission, and sang for us. I don't care if you like his music albums or not, but he is VERY talented when it comes to singing hymns (in English AND Spanish).

Brother Elliott was also so kind as to take time out of his schedule to share his extraordinary talent with us! He spoke very well, and he is such a talented organist that he can play hymns exclusively with the organ pedals- no hands, only feet! The music was so beautiful! <3

I love our investigators! We taught Michaela Bond for a while, and now we are teaching Brian Solis, Oscar Villegas and Victor Guiterrez(sp?). 

District A got to be "host missionaries" last Wednesday. That means meeting the new arrivals at the curb and helping them get started on campus until their first class.

I'll never forget my host missionary, Sister Futaga. :)

It is so odd to see other missionaries around campus! It seems like months ago that we were wearing those little orange dots on our tags!

MTC time is strange. Time goes by extremely slowly and quickly simultaneously.  So much happens in one day.

Oh, the new missionaries have no idea what a ride they are in for in this heavenly place. :)

I went with District B (since I am a solo sister. I accidentally went with my district of elders to help with groceries in the cafeteria last week, haha!) to clean the Provo temple today!

Cleaning the temple is a truly special experience. I got to help clean in the Bridal Room, the third floor and the basement. 3 hours flew by so quickly, and I had such a great time!

I only have a little bit of time to sketch on P-Days, yet my sketches seem to be improving! Tender mercy? ;) *Somebody please remind me to send pics of my sketches to my home email, lol!*

I emailed Jonah, and he wanted to know some things about the MTC. I made a list, so I'll post them here as well. 

1. If one person gets sick, EVERYONE gets sick. You're never not in close proximity to other people.

2. You go in expecting to have a little bit of free time. Don't. You'll be so busy, you won't believe it.

3. There are some people that you have difficulty working with. Pray to have charity and love for them.

4. To obtain the gift of tongues, don't pray so that you can speak the language. Pray for the gift of tongues in order to efficiently teach others.

5. You need to identify the needs of investigators.

6. NEVER make assumptions about the lives of investigators, companions, etc.

7. There are going to be attractive people in the MTC. Being around cute people is fine, flirting is NOT.

8. Laundry time is the best time of the week. I would bring 10-13 pairs of garments, you use them pretty quickly. Also, bring two sets of P-Day clothes.

9. You'll get really close to the people in your district really fast.

10. The best way to learn your language is to speak it at every opportunity.

11. Don't compare yourself to the teachers. They've been speaking the language for YEARS. The gift of tongues works, but it isn't instant. Be patient.

12. Take advantage of gym time. You'll build stress and excess energy from being in a classroom for so long.

13. You'll meet people from every race, language, social class, economic class, every walk of life imaginable. Enjoy the experience that you have with them. You're not in the MTC for long.

14. Within the first week, you'll realize that serving a mission is the absolute best decision you ever made in your life. :)

Last of all, I wanted to share this. I sent this to Elder Sandall (who is still recovering from his sprained ankle, the poor guy). It was a Facebook post that was printed out and sent to me in a package by Sister Anderson (thank you!). Posted by Laura Howell's fiancee, it made me very happy. I send my regards to Laura, the Howell family and the Byers family. This touched my heart:

"As I served my mission, I went through the greatest of times and the hardest of times with people from every walk of life imaginable. I taught hookers, priests, truckers, doctors, single mothers with struggling kids, druggies, miners, Lebanese people, Born Again Christians, Catholic altar boys, satanists, and many others. I soon learned an important principle of the gospel that I already knew, but had never fully understood: I began to grasp the idea that the Plan of Salvation is big enough for all of God's children. He is mindful of each and every one of his precious people. What perhaps was the most surprising thing of all was God's direct influence in the missionary work of an enigmatic country boy in the heart of Las Vegas. I realized that God did not need me to move the work forward, but that he needed me to become an invested disciple of Him. The best way to become a disciple was through a mission. I promise you, Braxton, that a mission will prepare you to be a better disciple of Christ, prepare you to be a better man. I promise that God will increase you talents, make you better, and stretch you in a manner you never thought possible. I also promise that you will be amazed by the capacity you have to love others. The greatest miracle that you will experience over the course of your mission will be your own transformation into a man of experience, a man of worth, a man of God."   -Sean Byers, Facebook, 12/16/14

Juan 16:33

DyC 9:7-8

El Evangelio es verdadero. Yo se este con todo de mi corazón.

Con amor,

Hermana Curnow

"Debajo de la ropa, encontramos el hombre. Y debajo del hombre, encontramos... su... núcleo." -Nacho Libre (we quote it all the time here. I miss you, Brooke <3 )