Hey family!! This week I'm not gonna share a lot about every day I just wanna share an amazing experience that I had this week.
So on Friday we started exchanges with some other elders in my district. We did correlation in the morning with the ward mission leader. That always lasts forever. Anyway, I headed back into the house to start doing our daily planning. So, there is this family that I have been teaching ever since I first got here about 6 months ago, la familia Gomez. Anyway, I stopped teaching them about a month or two ago because they just were not progressing. The mom's name is Alicia. While we were planning I just felt a strong impression to call them and make a teaching appointment one last time. So, I called them and Alicia was working in their alfalfa field, and I asked them if they needed any help. They told me yes, so we headed over and helped them pick weeds for about an hour. Btw I got 7 blisters on my hands because I've only been reading books for 6 months. After we finished the service Alicia told me she had a surprise for me in the night when I would come over, and she always gives us food, so I was assuming that was what the surprise. We went to a few other people in the day then returned to their house at around 6:30. We were just talking for about thirty minutes, when my head just started hurting. My head started hurting and I had a voice like telling me: bring up the baptism, bring up the baptism, bring up the baptism. I cut off Alicia in the middle of her sentence and asked her how she felt about the baptism. She said,"Me voy a bautizar mañana." (English) I'm going to get baptized tomorrow. I was just shocked because we had invited her to baptism so many times months before and she had always said no. The spirit overcame me with a feeling of peace that just seemed to fill the entire room. She finally convinced me that she was being serious, so I called the zone leaders to get the interview done that same night! It was already so late by the time that they got done that the zone leaders had to sleep on the floor in our house for the night. She had a few problems , so the following morning she had another interview with the president of the mission.
In the morning we finished exchanges and me and my comp headed right back to their house. Our president called about an hour later than he said he would so we ended up staying there for almost three hours. The interview finally ended, so then the whole rest of the day we were busy planning a baptism with the ward, finding baptism clothes, and coordinating every little thing at the last second. At 4 o'clock Alicia Valenzuela was baptized that Saturday. The next morning she was set apart as a member of the church. I don't know of this story happening many times in anyone's mission. I'm very very grateful for this miracle that happened. I never expected her to get baptized in the time I would end up having in that area, but we kept on working our hardest, and, although we may not have been teaching them, the Lord does not let our efforts go unrewarded.
That same day, we didn't have any appointments after church... We ended up calling a lot of people for a while to figure out who we could go visit... We found a name in the area book, Cristian Perachimba. My comp called him and made a cita with him. At the end of the call he told us he had moved from San Pablo to a place called Topo Alto. For all you Spanish experts the name of this community literally means HIGH TOP. Anyway, my comp asked me where that was and I told him to come to my desk and I pointed to the very, very top of the mountain where there was a few houses. It is so far away, that I had never even gone there in all the time that I have in this little area. So, we headed on a thirty minute bus ride that goes up about half way up the mountain... After getting to the highest spot, we walked straight up an old dirt road for more than an hour to find this house. Our phone also died, so we literally just asked for the Perachimba family and hoped the people knew what they were talking about. It was funny too because every time we asked, they looked at us little tired missionaries, laughed and pointed up the mountain and said, jaja arribisima es esa casa. We got to the very top house on the mountain, and an hour late, asked the man if he was Cristian Perachimba. Sure enough, it was finally him. We taught him, his wife, and his dad the restoration. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson, and at the very end the dad told us that the very same morning he had offered a prayer asking for something to change. That was a moment I will never forget on my mission. It's good to know that we truly can be the answers to people's prayers if we are following the guidance of the spirit. After the lesson we made the long walk down the hill, waited for the bus, and went back to the house, just grateful for that amazing experience we had just had.
On Monday, after district council and sending all the information for the week, we went to the Cusin family that I had baptized in December. I told them that I would most likely be leaving the next Monday after changes. Sadly, they wouldn't be able to meet again with us that week, so I ended up saying goodbye. I think that was harder than leaving home. I kept my cool until the 9-year-old son, Jimmy, came up and gave me the biggest hug. He started crying, and man, I didn't wanna step out that door. I don't know how many of my younger cousins or friends read my emails, but to those of you who do, the mission is 100% worth it. I love that family with all my heart and I truly hope I will be able to see them again someday.
That night, after my eyes dried out a bit ,haha, we had planned to teach this teenager named Wilker. A little background, I have been trying to teach him my entire time here, and this was the first time I had made it into his house. And usually, as missionaries, we don't commit people to a baptism date until we feel that they are either prepared for it, or they need something to work towards and need help dropping a serious addiction. I don't know why, but as we were teaching the Book of Mormon, we were reading in 3 Nephi when Christ is talking about baptism. I felt the strongest impression to invite him to be baptized the 22nd of February. Immediately, he looked up at me and gave a firm, yes. I'm glad to know that our impressions are there for a reason and the Spirit will never impress us to do something we shouldn't do. Sadly, the non-member father told us he would not allow his son to get baptized, but I still left that house gratified and satisfied with the lesson we had gave.
This week has been filled with experiences that I will never forget. I'm grateful for the spirit. I know that as I continue on, learning how the spirit works and impresses me, I will have more success on my mission, and that He will lead me to those people that are waiting for the eternal blessings that our Father has for them. I'm so grateful for all that I have learned so far on my mission. I'm grateful for the responsibilities that the Savior has entrusted en me. Through those responsibilities, stress, unsurity, that overwhelming feeling that we all feel at times in my life, I have learned to more fully trust in the Savior. He refines us through hard experiences. If we think this time may be too difficult to get through, we can look to HIm. The only perfect man that has walked the Earth. Despite his perfectness and dedication to his Father in Heaven, he suffered more than any ordinary man could even handle. I will be sad to say goodbye to San Pablo, as we are all 905 sure I will be leaving after 4 changes here, but I will leave knowing that I did my best job. Every day has been a challenge, but every day has made me stronger, and has made me a better missionary. I look forward to the future and the many other experiences that will help me to build my faith. I couldn't be happier than I am right now, for all of you, for the relationships I have made here, and for The perfect example we will always have to follow in our lives.
I love all of you so much. thank you for all you do for me,
Elder Curtis
For more photos click here – Bryant’s Mission Images