I've Got Time This Week

Let me try to do a good email this time jaja.


Last week my phone was dying while I was crammed in the zone leaders' car with every Elder in the district as I wrote the email, so I'm going to call that the reason why it was so haphazard jaja. Worth it though, we tried to play baseball uphill on a sand dune. 


We got to spend the P-day on Gran Canaria because we had an exchange the next day with the ZLs, which was cool. Got to work with Elder Blackburn for a day in Las Palmas which was cool. Our scheduled appointments didn't end up happening but we talked to some cool people on the streets. Ended up in a long discussion with a lady who had a lot of questions about what we believe, but also a lot of deep-set ideas of her own. We shared a lot with her and I'm going to be asking Elder Blackburn if anything cool happens with her.


Afterwards, we headed back to Fuerteventura after spending the whole last week in Lanzarote. Splitting between islands is pretty fun but occasionally annoying, since we can only be with half our area at a time. The members are starting to really push us because Christmas parties and stuff are coming up and we're going to have to start making decisions on where we'll be. The islands will get split up soon, since the mission will get more missionaries in January. In the meantime it's our job to help everyone we can.


In Fuerteventura things are good, but the biggest news of all has to be Carmen. We found her street contacting, and she's come to church three weeks in a row. When we go to visit her we always meet one of her kids and grandkids, and she wants to bring all of them to church with her. They're all listening to our discussions with her when they can. We see her and her granddaughter Jani the most, and have met two of her daughters and one grandson. She's also talked to he husband (who's in the US for some reason) and he's just happy she found a church. She loves the idea of temples and baptisms for the dead, connected one of our lessons to Joseph Smith's testimony in the front of the Book of Mormon, and is just all around great. We're excited to keep teaching her, and pretty bummed that we have to go back to Lanzarote on Wednesday and won't be able to see her.


Slice of Life 
Thanksgiving doesn't exist here, so check out the photos to see the "mango fritters" I ate instead. Strange idea, decent execution. 6/10


Appletiser.  
This stuff is amazing. On some level it's definitely just carbonated apple juice but this is the nectar of life.


Spiritual thought 


No one but the most skeptical and curious Primary kid is going to stand up in church and ask a speaker or teacher "where are you getting all this?". But as missionaries there are people who, when putting their faith in the gospel for the first time, want assurances, sources, and explanations for what we teach them. Studying the Book of Mormon as a missionary, it's important to notice what parts teach us what truths and doctrine. Right now I'm marking the Book of Mormon every time it connects to our "big lessons" and gained a new appreciation for King Benjamin's address. I'd encourage you all to read it because it's a perfect example of how the Book of Mormon talks about the mission and purpose of the Savior of the World, and helps us understand His importance.


Enjoy the turkey leftovers, or find a way to overnight them to here where they'll be appreciated,


Elder Curtis


Photos
Fuerteventura from above
Foods I talked about
P-day: Dunes, views, and district. (Just the Elders tho, sisters were too cool for us)
Elder Blackburn and I with a cathedral
King Benjamin going OFF and preaching straight doctrine.


























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