Week 9: Ohhhhhh Caaanadaaa

The last couple days at the MTC were bittersweet. I was stoked to get to the field, but at the same time it would mean I'd be leaving good ol' Distrito 24-J. I really love those guys; from balling up in the gym together to seeing how much everyone was improving in class and even just sitting in our rooms together at night talking about who knows what helped me make some memories that I won't be forgetting soon. We really are scattered across the American continent hahaha. All the way from Edmonton to Lima to Layton. That's also been one of the coolest parts of my MTC experience: getting to see how people who are completely different can come together, be united by the gospel. and then go everywhere in the world to spread the pure joy of the gospel. 


Just to elaborate on that point, the pure joy of the gospel is a message that has been at the forefront of my mind this past week. That's God's whole entire purpose: to help us find joy (citation Moses 1:39).When missionaries ask people to change things in their lives, it's for the express purpose of increasing the joy they have. Once you use this paradigm to look at sharing, every invitation becomes easier, and if not easier, more purposeful. You call people to repent because you love them and want them to be happy. You ask people to pay tithing because you want them to see the blessings of obedience in their life. God wants us to be happy. And a little more on obedience. God wants to bless his children, and the only way He can bless us and those we teach is when we are obedient. And just a few of the blessings, or gifts if you will, can be found in Moroni 10, which is easily one of the best chapters in the book of Mormon. Focus on verses 9-17. I testify the gifts of the Spirit are real.   


K so I wrote that in the MTC. Much has transpired since then. For example, I am now in a new country. Canada. And for all of you who think, "Oh, Canada. It's just Diet America with less freedom and more syrup." Well, you're wrong. It's all those things plus A&W's and Tim Hortons everywhere. Also poutine. If you don't know what those things are, give em a Google search. I digress. My companion is Elder Girabaldi, an absolute stud. I'm assigned to the northwest part of the city of Edmonton. My branch is called the Lago Lindo branch. My first sacrament meeting was.... interesting. I wasn't able to understand most of what was said, but I just tried to listen to the spirit. Then we went to dinner at the Oscuro's house. We had Mole, which is literally chocolate chicken. Delicious. Finally, we've taught a couple lessons, and I've been able to share in all of them. So that's been cool. Ooooo also we had a crazy lesson on Saturday where we were supposed to give this guy an English lesson, but instead we had a "Bible study" where we taught him about the Book of Mormon. Long story short we started singing hymns in this guy's basement. Out of the blue. It was lit.


OK bye for now! 
Elder Curtis


First Tim Hortons
Pretty sky
Pretty sky
My kind of Canadians
Droppin into E-Town




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 11: My Mission=On Fire (Literally And Figuratively), My New Sensei, And Canadian Food

Image
One of the most beautiful analogies I've ever heard in my life is this: Canada is like if aliens studied America for 30 years, and then tried recreating it. Everything is roughly the same, except for some very important differences. Primarily Food. Once again, mostly the same, except for one crucial Food genre: chips. For some reason, these people (who I have an immense love for) love.... ketchup chips. On everything. Like ketchup flavored lays, cheetos, and a whole bunch of ones I've never even heard of. I have yet to try one, because I'm scared I'll like it. Also, for the first time, I tried Canadian syrup. Now hear me out: I know and believe America is the greatest country on earth. We have the best everything- except syrup. I don't know how people settle for anything else after trying this literal liquid gold. I'm going to find a way to smuggle some home. In other news, me and Elder Girabaldi did some service at a soup kitchen on Wednesday, and we met a man ...
Read more

Week 29: FREEZING

Image
One of the more crazy weeks of the Mission Quick meteorology lesson: way way up north, there is something called the polar votex (basically a big ol cold air mass) When it is being nice it stays in a nice neat circle and keeps all the cold air together. But sometimes it gets weird and wonky, and the air leaks down to where normal people live....... I woke up on Thursday morning and I crack open the balcony to feel the temperature. No joke I could not breathe. I go and check my phone: -29°C. Cold. Very very cold. Over the next couple of days, the whole province of Alberta slowly shut down. On Saturday, we reached a high of -36 and a low of -42. There was talk that we would have to stay inside, but thankfully we didn't have too. Did that stop us? No. We still workin, found 8 new friends to teach, and put Jahir and the Martinez family back on date. The Lord loves effort! Honestly kinda crazy. We haven't been able to meet with them since before Christmas. I didn't know if they ...
Read more

Week 4: One Month Down

Image
Hola everyone. It has now been officially a month and a day since I've been set apart as a missionary. It has also probably been the quickest month of my life. Time has absolutely flown by, and I'm completely ok with that. Every day is filled with gospel and language study, bonding with my district, and the occasional fun random activity. Like last P-day when we went to the Provo temple, which was absolutely incredible. I love the temple, and I was grateful for the opportunity to get outside the MTC boundaries and get out into the real world.  Me and my two comps actually got the opportunity to talk to a guy outside of the temple who was writing a talk about the Holy Ghost. We were able to give him some advice and direct him to some conference talks and also 3rd Nephi 18. It was awesome to be able to see what missionary work is going to be like. Except we'll be speaking a different language, and it'll be -40 degrees outside. Oh Canada, I can't wait! If...
Read more