Curtis, William

Wow I'm cold! -24 today. But the work of the Lord goes on uninterrupted. Honestly one of the biggest miracles of my mission has been that on the really cold weeks, the work does not stop or even slow down. I need to tell you all about Ricky Spitzer. He is the husband of a member in our ward (he's not a member) who has disliked missionaries for the longest time. But we've been meeting with him and his family lately! We recently had a lesson on prayer and we invited him to say the closing prayer. Unbeknownst to us, this was the first time in his life he had ever prayed! When he finished and we all looked up, every single member of his family had tears streaming down their faces. I will never forget the Spirit I felt in that house. He's now reading the Book of Mormon on his own and he came to church yesterday! Last night we taught this Rwandan family the restoration. This was one of my favorite lessons of my whole mission. These people had been taught many times before (fo...

This week was really great. Honestly felt like all of our hard work over the past month all came together. We found so many new friends and had a bunch of lessons with our members as well. It's been hard cause everyone this time of year is so busy! But God blessed us and helped members come to a lot of our lessons. Our friends Adam, Morgan, Andre, and Josephine came to church this sunday! Adam is planning on being baptized on the 21st. Morgan is struggling with some addictions but loves coming to church, he wants to be baptized in the new year. Andre and Josephine are both from the Congo, and only speak French. But we've got some awesome members who are helping to fellowship them.  A favorite scripture of mine recently has been Moroni 7:26- And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, wh...

2 Sundays ago, we got a notification on our phones. Someone had signed up on Facebook to learn about how to progress on their spiritual journey. So we gave them a call. His name was Adam, and he wanted to know more about religion. He had grown up atheist but felt that God was calling him to something else. We met up with him on Wednesday and brought the coolest member, Brother Purnell. We taught him the restoration and showed him the Book of Mormon. He read a verse and asked if it was a commandment to be baptized. We said yes and he said that he'd really want to be baptized! We set a goal with him for December 21st. God prepared our friend Adam. Since then, he's quit coffee and booze cold turkey. Many people in the ward know him by name, and he loves the congregation! Another one of our friends has a similar story. His name is Morgan, and he's a Native American young man who struggles with substance abuse. But he's got the biggest heart and the biggest desire to be bapt...

It snowed this week, and I received a new companion! His name is Elder pallo, and he is from Montana. It was sad to see Elder Arnold go, but I am excited to work hard with my new companion. This Sunday, we had a new member class. We had friends from Congo, Nigeria, and Ghana, as well as some new native American friends. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that brought us all together.  This was a verse that stuck out to me in my personal study this week: And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world. When we need to make a decision, all we need to do is focus on the things that God would have us do. Then we can know we are choosing the right! Chao, Elder...

Three weeks ago we were walking into a mall to get some lunch. We saw a man and went to go talk to him. His name was Elder Manas, and he was an elder for his church. We asked him if we could go and preach at his church. He said we'd need to talk to his pastor, so we went to his church on Sunday and spoke to Pastor Ruben. He said we'd be good for Nov. 10th, we could have 20 minutes to preach. So yesterday, me and my companion walked into Emmanuel church. It is a South Sudanese Mennonite church. When we entered, there were about 25-30 ppl in there. We were assigned to speak in the middle of the service. We taught the restoration as explained in the restoration proclaimation. As we spoke the first vision, I felt the Spirit very strong. After we finished, they gave us a round of applause and some "hallelujahs" it was a truly special experience. We got some numbers and a couple of people wanted to come to church on sunday. Other than that, a pretty normal week. My mission ...

It snowed today. Pray for elder  curtis BTW hop on this  https://photos.app.goo.gl/ 5KEvxqXq2WYzZR9a9 Had some zone conferences this week. Muy divertido. Saw some old friends, made some new ones. Our training went great! Work's been tough, but not anything I haven't experienced before. Just focusing on what I can control right now.  SPIRITUAL THOUGHT Sorry this one is so short haha but I found some swag scriptures this week! I've been focusing once again on teaching the Book of Mormon from the Book of Mormon. Did you know Alma prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true? Me neither! Alma 5:45-47 45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?  46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things...

There's a fantastic video in the gospel library app called "a man without eloquence." It tells the story of Brigham Young's conversion. Brother Brigham was a tough investigator haha. He was not buying what his missionaries were selling until one elder who was pretty awkward bore his testimony. It was a simple and powerful testimony about the Book of Mormon. That missionary baptized Brigham Young! I love that video so much because it gives me hope. At the end of every lesson, I get the chance to bear my testimony and invite the Spirit like that missionary did with Brigham. We had 2 lessons this week where our testimony was especially powerful. The first was with the Ipaa family! They were a Facebook referral that we have been working to get in contact with for the longest time. We had an amazing lesson where we taught only the principles of the Book of Mormon and pray to know the truth. The Spirit testified powerfully of the truth of the things we told them.  The secon...