Week 23: LOVE PROBLEMS, LOVE PEOPLE, LOVE LIFE

'Nother week down. Time sure is moving fast, eh?


First of all, your prayers for the past 3 months have been answered : ILDEMAR IS ON DATE! I've been waiting for this since the day I met him and Esperanza. Ok so here's the story: We were planning our day on thursday, and we get the most beautiful text message from Ildimar (see Google photos, if you ain't on that, hop on:
Needless to say, we threw our whole day in the trash and met with Ildimar at west Edmonton mall, like a 20 kilo drive but so worth it. We get in there and the first thing he asks is, "ok, so after I get baptized, how many more covenants do I have to make?" Well I'm so glad you asked! We explain the covenant path, he is ok with it, we explain the qualifications for baptism, he accepts, and we set a date for dec 16! So awesome. The lesson was not with esperanza, she's a little more skeptical, but we are gonna meet this week with them both and have a lesson. Once again, I'm so thankful for all your prayers, and I'll keep you posted.


And along with that, this week was awesome! So incredibly chaotic however. Every single day we planned, the day looked completely different. But each one was absolutely spirit inspired.


We had a great lesson with our Peruvian boy Jayr. We felt impressed to stop by, knocked on his apartment, and no answer. So we started walking away, then we hear an 'Oiiiiiiii' from the other side of the street. Lo and behold, there he was. We had a great impromptu lesson, he was feeling sad cause his friend back in Perú died yesterday. He was killed by some gang members, in a neighborhood called Barrios Altos, apparently the most dangerous place in Perú. We comforted him and are gonna teach him the plan of salvation next.


Then this sunday, we were supposed to have a lesson with our new friend Rahul. So he comes to the church and he just started bearing his soul about how he's been in the country for 15 days and he knows no one and he lives with some drunkards and he's just trying to work to help his family back in Mexico. Gosh dang I was close to tearing up. Then we got to bear our testimonies and the spirit was electric. Then we went to church and he loved it!
We got a lesson on Sunday so I will return and report.


This week's spiritual thought is inspired by my dear old grandpa clarke: Love problems, love life. Out here, there are a multitude of problems. How do I teach most effectively? How can I find more latinos who wanna hear about Jesus? How can I teach someone who doesn't speak English how to use the Edmonton transit system? (True story) The trick, that I've found, is to learn to love the people. Then, once you love the people, the problems seem less like a mountain to climb and can make it almost seem like a game. All you gotta do is love problems, love people, and you'll love life! 


I'm so grateful for all of you! I pray for all of you! If you need anything shoot this Canadian an email and I'll get back to you. 


Adiós, 
Elder Curtis 


pictures 
Elder Curtis
My good friend Ildimar

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