Christmas Day

Hey well that sounds like you guys has a good christmas I can't believe you guys tricked them soo bad with the wii so how is it do they like it. So other than that how was Christmas did you have eggs Benedict and I can't believe the kids slept till 8 that's crazy. So other than that my week was good on Christmas day we got invited for dinner with a family that is really cool the sister invited us to her sisters how's where her whole family was at to eat so she gave us the direction and as we got off the metro the area looked pretty fancy and there was a huge park we had to cross so we found the building and went to go inside and 3 guys asked us what we were doing there so we told them who invited us and they agreed an showed us to the elevator so we passed through the lobby which is nicer than our house and got onto the elevator and pushed number 6 so on our ride up I asked what number it was and he said no number just floor. So I was like oh great we will have to knock forever to find her then I said what if it's like the movies and this elevator is her actuall front door an it opens up into her house... So as we finally arrived the door opened an it was her house it was crazy! So we walked in and her family greeted us an blah blah blah we sat down to eat and my comp noticed there were candied yams! I was in shock it's been forever since I had those an never in Mexico so we started eating and there were soo many people there and a lot knew English a lot of them live in Miami so we talked for awhile and yeah turns out their dad ownes a big international company that sells woman underwear and is very welthy so we were talking to his 2 kids who are close to our age and it was was pretty cool to talk to people about stuff in English so it was pretty good Christmas nice and easy not the usual crazyness so that was good. So today we went to wall mart and to the mall to walk around and check stuff out an then had our district meeting and yeah everything is all good and nothing has changed since When we talked haha so this letter is not too exciting. Well that's it really I better get going gotta study for tomorrow
I love you guys!
Adios

Elder Curtis

selected according to size!!! lol

Alright family. So this week was a great week my new area is slowly getting better even if the work is slow. We had a baptism 2 Sundays ago and his confirmation this past Sunday and then this past thursday i got a random call from our district leaders asking if I could baptize someone in a different zone on Saturday so we checked our plans and agreed turns out the woman who was getting baptized was really nervous and didn't trust the 2 tiny mexicans to baptize her so she said she didn't want to be baptized so they were talking to her and showed her a picture of me and asked if she would trust me to do it, ( because of my size haha ) so she agreed I showed up there on Saturday and as soon as she saw me she got the biggest smile on her face and just said thank you soo much ( she was nervous because of her size and she didn't trust the other elders to do it ) so we did the baptism and her mom got batized right before her so it was a neat experience and she was soo happy. So other than that last Saturday the 12th was the day of the virgin Guadalupe and the day fireworks were going off all over the city so we got on top of our roof 5 stories up and just sat up there at night watching all the fireworks go off over the whole city it was awsome. We had our ward dinner for Christmas and about 45 people showed up which was most of the active ward ( very small ward 50-60 people) and that was good and then on Sunday a family invited us for dinner so we went with them and the dad in the family is an amazing cook he cooked the carnitas last week and hamburgers my first week here and this time it was steak like fillet I don't know but it was really thin cut and grilled with longaniza like chorizo but in tubes like sausage very tasty!!! And after dinner his kids wanted to play monopoly so we agreed and play spong bob monopoly haha and 2.5 hours later I came out the winner!!! Haha it was awsome I love that game. So yeah that was the excitement for this week Monday we went to the mall and just walked around saw the Santa clause there haha Mexican version haha so that was fun and ya another good week. Oh before I forget I think we are going to call on the 24 if that is ok at whatever time you want because the 25 we are super busy and the 24 we are eating at a house where we can use the phone so I will get the number for you and that should be good to go. Just let me know on the time morning afternoon whenever but that's it I love you guys and I'll get a letter for Lia and Sam this week and in the mail next week when we have the meeting. Well that's it
I love you

Elder Curtis

Well first things first... Transfers... Haha my new comp is an American and his name is elder decker from California you might know some of his family his mom is from verdon new Mexico and his aunt ladon lives in safford and is the band or choir teacher at one of the schools his parents both met at EAC and elder decker is planning on going to eac when he gets back next fall with me. Our new area is pretty cool we are in a place called Tlalpan in the center a little south of the estadio azteca our area some very wealthy parts and some not so parts but the rich part is all gated off and we can hardly get in so that's not fun because it's like half our area and it's on a golf course but the area we can work in has a lot of hills haha so I get a good work out. On Sunday we had a baptism of a 12 kid who's family was all inactive but are now slowly getting back in the habit si that's good the family is awsome. So me and my comp get along really good he's pretty funny. In my new zone it's pretty cool my new district leader is elder montalvo yeah my comp in the MTC from Mesa so that's awsome. So the new ward is really good I like it but it's mostly older people very few young people the active number is about 50 so hopefully we can improve on that. So in my new area we have the best invention EVER we have a taco buffet!! It's amazing last time we went there on Friday I ate 30 tacos and a bowl of soup!! It was awsome and the best part is it only cost 50 pesos so like not even 4 dollars and we just got back from playing soccer and basketball and now we are going with a bunch of missionaries so it should be interesting but I'm not gonna eat 30 I about threw up last time it brought back memories of the Vegas fatty trip at the buffet hahaha so yeah but we have to go eat but I'll write some more later when we get done but I love you thanks for everything!
Love

Elder Curtis

Alright so we just got back from eating and some shopping I was looking for some soccer shoes at the Nike store cause they had a deal going on some really cheap shoes but we got there and the biggest they have is a 12 so I was out of luck again my pumas are going to blow out soon but hopefully I can figure something out other than that I ate 25 tacos and a tortilla soup soo good. And yeah that was the excitement for today now it's off to do laundry and read!! I'm gonna finish the book of Mormon before conference so in the last 2 days I've read 1st nephi and wow I have never read soo much hahaha and it's only like 52 pages hahaha I don't like reading at all never have. But you should try reading the book with me haha when was the last time you guys read the whole thing?? Well just something to think about.

Love

Elder Curtis

Transferred again!

Wow officially December I can't wait for Christmas haha well today we went to play soccer as usual an they told us I have changes!!! So this is gonna be a super short letter because I have to pack and a lot of other stuff to do in a short amount of time so I'm going to a place called Tlalpan it's right next to one of my other areas by the Estadio Azteca so I'm excited to be back in the city I can't wait. It was getting too cold out here in the towns it's gets to like high 30 low 40 at night and in the day 65-70 it's nice during the day but at night it's COLD! I can't stand it but the city is a little bit warmer buy we shall see how it goes. My new comp is American so that should be good I was hoping for a Mexican to better my Spanish but that's life alright well I better get going lots to do in a little amount of time. I love you guys soo much and hope you guys had a great thanksgiving! Next time I'll be there!! Haha that's cool well thanks for everything
Adios

Elder Curtis

speaking out on a combie!

Wow that's so wierd to think that Ross and Trevor are already home that's crazy and next is Landon then Ray and Justin in February and march I think. Time goes so quick but I'm excited to see the changes in everyone. So this week was really good it started on Wednesday when we went to our district meeting and when we got there we saw the assistants to the president there it was a little wierd to see but I was excited because they are awesome elders and always teach us amazing things. So after the meeting they walk up to us and ask us if it's alright if they can come and work with us in our area today.... I was shocked to hear that but said of course I couldn't wait to see what I could learn working beside one of the best elders in the mission so we left and got to work and we started in the combie ( the transportation it's like a van full of people) we were just talking normal when all the sudden he started speaking loudly to the whole van full of people explaining how we are missionaries and what we are here to do to help the people come closer to Jesus Christ and stuff so at first I didn't know how to react and how the people would react but the people were interested and wanted to hear more so we took their info adress and that stuff and ya it was cool to see the people be surprised but then open up and accept and even though not everyone accepted it was a cool experience and when we got off he asked me if I had ever done that before and I said no so he said today is the day... Haha I was nervous but the next time we got on a combie he nudged my arm and said your turn haha it took me a little bit to convince myself but I did it! And it was so hard haha all those people looking at a huge guy talking to them and asking if we can go to their homes and teach their families but it was good and we got some really good families to teach so this week is gonna be a good one. So the rest of the day was awsome teaching everyone and learning from someone who knows soo much so yeah it was a good day and after they came and checked our house to make sure our living conditions are good or if we need anything beds desks chairs stuff like that so it was a good day my comp is gonna get a new bed so he's excited haha other than that it was a pretty normal week just workin and workin but this week on Wednesday we have a conference with Elder De Hoyos of the seventy it's gonna be good I can't wait for that and then this next Tuesday we have changes and I'm thinking I'm gonna get changed but we will know Sunday night but it would be cool to spend Christmas here with the people I've known for some time but we shall see but yeah this coming week should be a good one for us but I better get going I hope you guys are doing good and hope you have a great thanksgiving with everyone I almost forgot it was so close haha no one knows what it is here but anyways I miss you guys and hope you are doing good. I love you all!
Adios y cuidese

Elder Curtis

teaching the gospel

Well this week has been pretty good we are teaching some really amazing people the trick is to keep them going and not get lazy and stop going and that's the hard part but some people are ready and some people need some time but I love it seeing people really get excited about the church it really keeps me going here I'm gonna miss that part especially seeing the people and families that we have taught and baptized and the gratitude they have is amazing. But other than that we got a new ward mission leader and he is awesome and has some really good ideas for the ward to get them involved in the mission work. One of the activities we have planned is we are going as the ward to knock doors in a town to share a Christmas message and get references for us I'm really excited for that to see the whole ward get excited about spreading the gospel so I'll let you know how that goes. Other than that we have 2 baptisms set up for the 28th of this month hopefully it all goes well with them and they follow through. As far as me and my companion go haha we are getting along great he is awesome and hilarious we are always laughing which is good it helps the day seem shorter haha so this past weekend we had our stake conference and we the missionaries as our zone got to sing a special number it was good I liked it and also there was a guy that just got returned from his mission for health problems and he was in Rays mission and turns out they were companions so we spent a while telling stories his name is Elder Blanco. So I gotta write Ray and let him know. But yeah that's crazy that Ross is already home and Trevor is almost home that's awesome you'll have to tell them I said hi haha well I better get going gotta get a little work out in before we leave haha thanks for everything and I miss you guys and I love you!

Elder Curtis

Pictures!

more pics!

New Pictures!

Comps bday celebration?

Wow this week went by fast but it was good in our conference with the president he extended a challenge to look for families to teach not just individuals so this week we have been doing that and it has worked really well we have about 3 or 4 really good families in teaching right now and it is cool to see them all progress as a family unit hopefully they will all keep on track in preparation for their baptisms but other than that I am doing good my comps birthday went well all things considered. We got to the house sat down and we ate, the sister made us Pozole!! Yum and when we got done we realized we didn't have a cake..... So the search begun one of the other elders got my comp and were on their way to the store to get a cake and the guy at the house gave them the keys to his car to go in and as they were pulling out I decided to go with them so we get in the car and this thing is a real piece of work or lack of it sucked haha the transmission was horrible and the clutch was going out so we head out and we make it prob 7 blocks and the car just dies... So we coast to a stop haha it was funny the thing was floored and was going about as fast as I jog... Slow. So it dies and wouldn't start so we waited a minute and it starts so we were back on track it got to the cake store and we realized the cakes were WAY too expensive for how much we cared about my comp haha so we decided not to buy one so we get to the car and it won't start and soo they tell me to push it up around the corner so I did and then it starts and we make it about a block and dies again and I had to push us out of the other cars way on a one way street so this pattern continues for about an hour... So I am super tired by this point so we decided to let the car and me rest for a little bit and then it finnaly started and limped back to the highway so we get to the highway and it dies again so we started (we) pushing until this van drove by and honked and kept going and then 5 min later came back and offerred a tow!!! Oh yeah it was awsome they know the elders from that town and own the gym they all go to so they helped us out and turned out he is like a pastor at a church there but he is way cool and respects us so we finally get back to the house and walk in and the guy just starts laughing at us all tired and sweaty and says I knew that was going to happen!!! Haha I didn't find it soo funny and asked well why did you offer your keys?? Haha so that was our little trip on Monday and other than that we hung out with the lions and tigers and stuff again and saw the lion and the tigres mating... That was wierd to see 2 different animals doin the dirty but it was funny so yeah that was the happenings of the week.
So what tree did they cut down in Phoenix or the one in springerville? And yeah in the robbery we didn't break it up but we weren't exactly kicking him in the mouth either haha so yeah good stuff going on down here I love it I am deffinatly gonna miss it but I'm gonna make the most of what time I have left. Well tell eveyone I love them and have a great week
I love you
Adios y cuidense,

Elder Curtis

Elder Perez from Chiapas

Josh got a hold of me and let me know that one of his friends from his mission died. They just had a multi zone conference where the Mission President explained what happened. Elder Perez had been sick and the doctors there told him it was a kidney infection. He ended up going home and later died from appedicitis. So very sad. A member of the seventy will be going to Mexico to talk with the missionaries there. My prayers go out to Elder Perez' family and friends and those in the mission field that knew him and loved him that they may find comfort and peace.

Day of the Dead

Hey so this week has been eventfull so first of it's the day of the dead celebration and it's pretty cool but the people have like one big mixed idea about it haha the holiday is 2 days the first two days of Nov and people put out their huge offerings to their dead family members. The first they celebrate the innocent saints or AKA the little kids. And the second day is for everyone else and each house has a big offering full of food candy tequilla and lots of stuff in particular the favorite meals of the dead people so that's cool to see. And another cool thing is they make a special bread here only on these days called "pan de muerto" or "dead bread" it's really good and most eat it with coffee or chocolate milk soo good!!! So other than that all the kids dress up and they call it Halloween and they go around asking for candy so they have like 2 parts to the day of the dead the traditional and the new stuff but it's fun.
Other news yesterday we were at church and we just finished and we were outside talking with 2 guys that are 20 yrs old one we just baptized a few weeks ago and all the sunden Alejandro gets a phone call and he freaks out and throws his books on the ground and runs out on the street and starts yelling "where are you! Where are you!" and then tells us his sister is getting robbed in the ATM up the street so we go running up the street when we see a group of people running toward us so as they get closer we see they are chasing a guy and the guy they are chasing has a pistol!! So we get him kinda cornered between us and a wall and one of the guys who was chasing him(they were mechanics) threw a concrete covered brick at him and hit him right in the head! So he falls down and everyone jumps on him and kicks the gun away and then the mechanics start to beat him bad stomping on him everywhere (I'm surprised they didn't break any bones) but he did loose some teeth. So by this time our bishop and a bunch of the men in our ward showed up and then a cop showed up an asked what was going on and found out he robbed a 13 year old girl at gunpoint the cop kicked him! It was crazy the gun turned out to be fake so the cop handcuffs him and the robber sits up against the wall COVERED in blood(the brick busted a good hole in his head) and Alejandro looked through his pockets and found the money and card of his mom and one of the councelors to the bishop took video of it for evidence so the cops can't steal the money but it was crazy. So other than that happening it was a pretty normal week. We are going to celebrate my comps birthday today now that we have our money for the month and it should be fun! Haha my comp turned 26 haha but tell Sam I said happy birthday and a few spankins for sure. So yeah we were actually riding in the cage with the jaguar and the owner guy but no we didn't get any pics because the jag didn't like riding around I the cage through the city with all the lights and noise so we decided it be better not to improve the chances of is getting eaten because of a camera flash so that's a bummer but I'll send more animal pics soon well I better wrap this up haha hope you liked my story

Elder Curtis

New Comp Elder Castillo

Well this week has been great on Tuesday we had changes and I got my new comp elder Castillo he's from Trujillo Peru and has 19 months in the mission he's cool super funny so we get along great so this week has been going good a lot of stuff half out area was shut down because people were picketting in the streets and blocked the 2 roads that lead to the other half of our area so we couldn't go there the whole week but it's open now. So the other day the guy that owns the lions and stuff asked if we could help him do a show with the animals at a party for a kid so we agreed and so we helped him get the snakes, I held a boa it was crazy so then we put the lion in the truck and then the jaguar but there was no room for us in the truck so we had to ride in back with the animals but the tiger and jag don't get along so we had to ride with the jaguar!! It was cool my comp got a little scared when it started getting rough with us he thought it was gonna eat us but it just nibbled so at the show the owner tied the jag up to a fence and it was waiting for her turn to go out when a firework went off and she got spooked and got loose and took off but she went towards the backyard and not towards the people thankfully! But other than that the show was good. So other than that the week was good
So the family is gonna sell the ranch that's a bummer I wish they would keep it but oh well it will be easier on you guys but now what's the plan for you guys now. Well I better get going I miss you guys and love you guys!

Elder Curtis

St. Lucas day

well this week went by pretty quick we barely got changes this morning so tomorrow morning my comp elder perez is leaving and going back to the city so thats cool and im getting another and staying in my area so im happy my new comp is Elder Castillo hes from Peru so its gonna be cool i know him from one of my other areas so i cant wait im finnaly gonna get the good matress and the good desk so im pumped hahaha so thats the big news for today so the other news is last night we got invited by a family to go eat dinner with them to celebrate the "party of the town" (each town has a saint, and each saint has a day and yesterday was the day of st. lucas) so there was a huge party LOTS of food there was tacos of Carnitas its fried pork but the best tacos EVER and chicken en mole which is also super good so it was a great party! then we played some backyard soccer and then went to the center of the town and there was a fair so we were walking around with the family and they were playing games and i won a sweet prize! its a homer simpson piggy bank haha and i wont it by breaking 2 beer bottles with 3 rocks hahah totally my game. and then we played a lot of other stuff and won some sweet stuff and then we walked by a mechanical bull and the family was begging me to get on it so after trying to get away they got me on it haha it was funny i lasted the full 8 and then some and ripped my pants haha it was great and then we got my comp on it for his first time ever it was a good time, then it was the fireworks and they were way cool we were right next to them like 20 ft from them and they were exploding right above us. great time! so other than that we are gonna go with the owners of the tigers and lions to take them swimming! this week we are taking them to a pool and they are gonna swim around for a while and take some cool pics so im super excited for that. but other than that the zone baptism was alright haha our zone leaders planned the whole thing to try to look good for the president but they planned it pretty bad and hardly anybody showed up and there were only like 10 baptisms but it was good it just didnt look good on the zone leaders trying to show off haha but its all good they will learn sooner or later, but other than that we had 4 new people come to church with us and 1 old investigator so it was a really good week and tomorrow a new companion so we will see how that goes, but thats the news for the week well i better get going thanks for everything haha i might have to start training for that police acadamy.... hmmm we`ll see, im excited for it, so this morning i weighed myself and im pushing 325-ish so im hoping to come back in the 2`s so im excited to see whats gonna happen in these next 8 months lots to look forward to. good stuff. well i better get going i love you guys soo much and hopefully you guys figure out this whole safford thing and everyone is supportive of it. well i hope you guys are doing good and we beat safford this weekend! love ya
Love
Elder Curtis

busy pday

well this week has been good we put another person with a baptism date so we are going to have 3 baptisms in the the few weeks so thats great. so other than that i didnt know grandma had a tumor thats not good i hope shes doing good and getting better, where is she living at? well other than that this week we had plans to go climb a big hill in our area that over looks all of the valley but it was all smoggy so that was a bummer, we were gonna hike it at 6 30 to see the sun come up over the volcanoes but it was real cloudy so that changed the plans to soccer and basketball just the usual so yeah this saturday we are having a baptism service as a zone and our president is gonna come talk and the stake pres as well so it should be good and then on the 20th so next tuesday we have changes soo maybe one of us will leave but it will prob be my comp but its all good i like this area pretty good so im happy i might get another new missionary so thats always good at staying motivated in the work haha. so other than that hows the family going, what day is sams birthday? well other than that im doing good getting along good with my comp and loving the mission its gonna be wierd and hard to leave this place after soo long and go back to the real world again but i am loving my time here! well i better get going lots to do today i love you all
adios y love
Elder Curtis

More pics from the waterfalls!

More pics from the waterfalls!

More pics from the waterfalls!

conference

Hey family, so this monday is a relax day we are still trying to recover from the waterfalls haha but i loved it so today we are just hanging out with fullmer. so conference was really good, i really liked priesthood session and elder hollands talk a lot! but we watched it at the stake center with everyone else. It was 10 hours, translated into a very monotone Spanish. so homecoming was this week thats cool, thats a bummer that they just played window rock and it wasnt too exciting but thats how it is sometimes haha! so this week we found a family that we are hoping to baptize in 3 weeks of 5 people thats pretty exciting the dad is inactive but wants to come back into the church with his family so i was pretty happy that they found us in the street one day. so the work here is doing good but i havn't heard anything on samoa, but ill look on the internet right now but other than that me and my comp are getting along pretty good and having success but other than that not much has happened haha this week we had a zone conference and our president gave us a quiz on preach my gospel he said we should have it memorized by the end of our mission so im excited to study it more, another thing in my interview i asked him about school and going back a change early and he said to check the dates and stuff and to tell him at the changes on the 20th because he needs to talk to the mission dept. to clear it. but im pretty sure thats what i want to do and a bonus would be the 4th of july and the 24th and to figure out school, but thats what im thinking. so what do you think about that. but other than that thats all i can think of right now haha im sorry my letters are so lame. alright well ill talk to you later
i love you guys and miss you, give hugs to lia and sam
love ya
Elder Curtis
hey im not sure what the waterfalls are called but they are right bext to a town called san rafael so maybe you can find em. As far as the clothes thing right now im good with clothes but a cool tie i wouldnt mind, but not a boring one, its gotta look good haha. and dont worry im not gonna be dumb about the most important decision of this life! haha you gotta trust me at least a little bit, anyways i gotta gobut ill think of anything i want for the package and right you again so you know thanks. Hey what day did nana die? I got a letter from her dated the 19th and a check. It meant a lot to me. love ya

Waterfalls in Mexico

Wow this week was amazing. We baptized a guy our age his name is Lesly and he's the one with the lions an tigers and his mom came to watch and she said she's interested in what the church is about so hopefully in a few weeks we can baptize her. (he answered Lia's questions about what the animals all felt like) So the lions and tigers and jaguar all felt really soft, the lion was the most rough and the jaguar was really smooth but really really strong!! He was trying to pull me closer to eat me! But it was really cool! But today was even better. We went up to the waterfalls it was really long to get up there a 40 min bus ride then a 20 Mon hike up through the town to the trailhead and pay 6 pesos and the trek started!! Exactly 5 hours later and 15 miles we were back at the bottom and super tired but it was amazing we went with elder Fullmer and his comp and it was so much fun I took almost 200 pictures so I'll try and send some later on but it was soo intense it was not even a real trail most of It we were in a river
bed so we got wet and muddy but it was great. So yeah those were the happenings of this week it was sweet well I will try and write more and send more pictures!!! Well I love you
Elder Curtis

Jose Gonzalez

Back a few weeks ago Josh mentioned that he baptised a man in a wheelchair. He finally sent pictures of that man. His name is Jose Gonzalez.

More pictures from the wildlife preserve!

Very short video with a jaguar!

New Pictures!

We were so excited to come home and find he had found time to send us some pictures! We love getting baptism pictures! Earlier he had the opportunity to go to an investigators wildlife preserve and the pet the animals! Love it!

"Welcome to the Jungle!"

Wow! today was awsome we finally went and took pictures with the lions tigers and jaguar it was awsome! i got to touch all of them through the fence and i took a ton of pictures it was soo cool, the jaguar was trying to eat us he was a little onery but was awsome!! i grabbed the paw of the jaguar and we got some great pictures and some sweet video!! it was awsome then they had some other stuff like a lynx and a racoon it was kinda funny and some geese and some little bunnies running around. so that was the excitement of the day today and we took 2 other elders, elder fullmer and his comp it was a lot of fun! During the week we also had some good success and we have a baptism set up for this saturday so it should be great i cant wait but i have to go but ill write more in a little bit i miss you and love you!!
Elder Curtis

Unfortunately he never wrote back :( We are so grateful that he's doing so well! I love that he usually sounds so postive, even when I'm sure there have been struggles. I can't wait to see pics and video!
-Cindy

Rainy season/ plans

Hey fam so this week has been really good. On Sunday we had 4 investigators come with us for their first time and they liked it so that is awsome looks like we have some baptisms compng up this month probably like 4 so that is pretty sweet. Other than that I can't believe papa and patty are home that is crazy. How are they? Are they different or pretty much the same. So yeah if you could get the life story of nana for me that would be great. That's awsome so many people showed up to her service. So this week me and elder perez are doing good I'm pretty happy about being with him another change we do have it pretty good together being both Americans it's fun although I do get along with the mexicans they are sometimes difficult so it's good. So on a differnt note the weather here is pretty wet every morning it looks so be a bright and sunny day but every afternoon and night it rains and rains so we get wet a lot but it's better than 110 in phoenix! Haha.

So lia is not enjoying the first grade very much haha and she can swim thats impressive, so hows sam doing with being at home all day?? is he excited for next year to go to school? soo what happened to dads truck?? did he drop a tree on it?? haha thats a bummer and now its competely dead... doesnt run anymore?? wow thats not good. so chelsey and richard had to move out, did they get that house finished in time to move into or what, or are they buying a house out buy bernie's?? so have you guys thought of where abouts you are wanting to live down there?? out by dustin and amy would be cool and quiet, out by the kemptons as well, or in thatcher i like it over there, haha just wondering if you guys had any options you were looking at?? hows the real estate market going is it expensive? i had always thought of buying a house when i got back, by the college and rent it to students so they could help make the payments haha random ideas i have, but still an option for me, i have thought about where i want to go to school, more options in mesa but family in safford, steve johnson is not teaching anymore so thats a big downfall to EA and i have been thinking about going back and playing football at mesa... so who knows, what are your thoughts on all of that?
so ther than that im doing really good, i have just over 13 months in the mission and its going by soo fast its crazy but i love it, i got a letter from trevor the other day it sounds like he is doing good, he comes home soon right?? so next time you see chess or shane puch them for me and tell them quit being bums and do something and go on a mission!! haha well i better get going sorry its short today i try to tell you guys everything but my mind goes blank and starts wondering when i start writing haha but you get most of it haha. well i love you guys soo much tell lia and sam i love them and to be good or else....
thanks for all your support your the best!!
adios
Elder Curtis

lions and tigers oh my!

hey hows it going? so papa and patty are getting ready to come home thats crazy, i remember when they got their call it feels like not too long ago... so how was the funeral... before i forget i was wondering if i could get a copy of her life story so i could read it. how many people were there??
so down here its been good this week it was the last week of the change so we were thinkin one of us was going to leave and most likely my comp soo he was packing up some stuff and saying goodbye to people all week and last night at 11pm we called the zone leaders to get the changes and they started off by saying..."your not gonna believe it... but your both staying." so we are going to be together another 6 weeks which is cool so 4 1/2 months at least with elder perez, in other news we are teaching a guy who is 20 years old whos family has like a wildlife preserve or something but they have 2 lions male and female, 2 tigers male, female and 2 jaguares male female its crazy and he said next time we go to teach him we are going to get them out and take pictures with them!!! im soo excited ive never been that close to those animals before, we were right next to them one fence between us and them and i almost touched the tiger but thought better not to hahaha, but the guy we are teaching asked us what he had to do and when he could get baptised so i was pretty excited about that he is awsome and wants to serve a mission so that made my week, other than that we played soccer today and someone had the great idea to play americans vs the mexicans... in my experience this never ends good and soo far my experience proves correct, today we about had like 5 fights on the field it got pretty intense with the mexicans winning the first game 7 to 2 but the americans never give up we won game number 2, 7 to 4 but there were good amounts of blood and fat lips but its all good and we cooled down with some intense rounds of ping pong so all in all today was one of the better P-days haha so the biggest mexican holiday is coming up on the 15th of september its like the 4th of july for this country and involves a lot of beer, weapons and fireworks... its gonna be awsome!!!
so yeah im hoping to head home a change early to get school taken care of and get on that, but i just have to clear it by pres. but im not thinking it will be a problem, but i just dont want to get back right before school starts and then have to leave 3 days after i get home, so thats my thinkin behind this plan. so other than that this week has been good and hoping to have another good one well other than that i love you guys and hope you have a good week and i miss you!
adios y cuidense mucho,
Elder Curtis

early release?

hi, so s is going to the north, lucky kid. so this week has been good we put 4 people with baptism dates and had 3 families come to church with us so thats always a good day. so today on our p day we had to go work in the morning so that kinda ruined the day because we went to meet this guy to teach and he never showed so we wasted a lot of time and money on our one day a week to enjoy normality, and a lot of other stuff happened that pretty much ruined our day, so other than that we did eat some panda express china food GOOD and my comp got panda AND burger king haha he eats soo much and like 2 cones, haha so other than that... im still trying to get the package together to send home so be patient haha
so hows the family doing? im not sure what's going on but my advice from what im hearing is just mind your own business and let the others do what they want and hopefully they will see that its not the way it should be done but i wouldnt suggest trying to make people change, i know i dont work like that, when people try to make me change i usually rebel and do anything but change so maybe thats how the family is just try to lead the way and set the example and hopefully the others will follow and realize for themselves that something has to change, so thats my little Dr. Phil moment hahaha
so h is getting big eh... we'll see about that when r gets back in march and can beat up on him haha oh so serious question time.... what do you think about me coming home 6 weeks early to go to school...?? ill get back on August 11th and school would start a week later, or i can talk to my president and see about going a change early (6 weeks) so i can find housing and do all the paperwork before school starts ive been really thinking about it for a while now and im kinda in favor of doing it, coming back early. but i still have to clear it with my boss aka the president, so thats what im thinking but i just want to hear your thoughts on the matter, well i better get going sorry this letter is kinda lame, ill get a good one to you next week. i love ya and have a great week, give lia and sam hugs and tell em i love em! i miss you guys haha 11 months( maybe only 10, coming home early hahah) i love you
adios y cuidense,
Elder Curtis

Lockdown

This week Josh's Great Grandmother passed away. I worried about letting him know, just because things seem a little stressed for him right now. Grandma Ellsworth was 90 and had lived a long and wonderful life. I know she's proud of him and loved hearing all about his mission. Josh is blessed to have such wonderful examples in our family. - Cindy

well thats a big bummer about grandma, im really gonna miss her. you should take pictures (lots) at the funeral and stuff, well that was just a quick letter because we are coming back later tonight to get back on because our president has locked everyone in their areas, no one can leave for anything and no one has permission to go anywhere! so lots of free time today but ill write you some more later, other than that my week has been alright just normal a little hard with the new pres. but thats life. other than that its going good normal stuff haha well i will write more later
i love you
Elder Curtis

hey im not gonna be able to write you back again im sorry but this week has been good dont worry about me ill be fine, i hope you guys are doing good and have a great week, i miss you guys soo much and love you lots
adios
Elder Curtis

sight seeing p day

I waited all day for my letter...Mondays are pretty emotional! I know he's busy and has things to do and there may come a time when I don't get a letter. We have been so blessed that Josh sends us great letters each week. I just need to know that he's safe and ok. Finally I got a short letter!
- Cindy

hey today we went sight seeing in downtown today so we just got back after being in traffic for a few hours soo im going to be writing you guys tomorrow with my actual letter, im really sorry to put you guys off but its really late. well i love you guys soo much
adios,
elder curtis

So on Tuesday we got this letter!

hey! how are you guys, so yesterday was crazy busy we went to the city and went shopping for some little stuff and just to hang out and get out off the small towns haha so we went to buy some ties for the other 3 elders i was with and then to some "tiangies" those are like a market where you can find ANYTHING so we bought some cool stuff and im trying to get a package ready to send home so if there is anything that you guys want you should tell me, i found some cool leather scripture cases but they are about $80 i dont know why soo expensive but im still looking, i almost got some crocodile skin cases!!! i still might!! haha there is everything here. so then we went to the central plaza and took some pictures and some some street performances like break dancers and stuff and then we found this china food buffet for 50 pesos so like almost 4 dollars haha and it was pretty good haha we ate a lot and then we walked through the cathedral again and then we went and visited a family that me and Elder Fullmer know from our old areas so then we started the long ride home so as we were waiting for the bus to pick us up we were waiting on the sidewalk of a major avenue in the middle of the city and the cars were flying by and one tried to cut across all the lanes and there was an accident and they about hit a big group of people waiting on the other side of the street so its pretty crazy, thats my 3rd big accident ive seen since being here haha this city is a little crazy sometimes. so yeah other than that, on saturday we had a mission conference with Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Gonzalez (presidency of the 70) and our area president, so an apostol and 2 seventies it was way cool we got to shake all of their hands and take a picture with them, and elder Johnson and his wife said they know our family, they saw my name tag and asked if i was from arizona.. and where i lived and they know round valley too! so its a pretty small world but the conf. was good we got to ask a lot of questions to them about doctrine and that was the best part. so im starting to get nervous again about this new president , hes starting to send a lot of elders home, so im trying to all i can to not get sent home but who knows, so in my package is going to be all my "world" things like DVDs and CDs, and i hope you like the good old "Seinfeld" and "Friends" because i bought ALL of the seasons of both of them haha a lot cheaper than the states. and some movies that i have gathered over the past year. so just so you know what will be in the package and if you want something special tell me now because i gotta get it in the mail in like 2 weeks hopefully, what might the kids like?? well thats the happenings soo far but i better get going but i love you guys soo much and tell lia and sam i love them and hope they enjoy soccer, well i love you guys and have a good week, bye
adios,
Elder Curtis

New bikes

Josh at the baptism of Maria. And lookout, he got a "new" bike! Let's hope for the best!

the "Dew"

Elder Smedley was kind enough to share valuable Mtn. Dew with his compadres! Josh said it doesn't exist down there and he was soooo stoked to be able to have one! We'll have to return the favor!

Things that grow in Mexico

The green cornfields in Mexico! Along with some random "weeds" outside a members home. (notice the sweet hair) And a lot where they make brick for houses. I was so excited to see how green it can be this time of year there.

Hair cut

These are a few pictures of Josh's new "haircut"/scalping! Like he said at least he's tall and it isn't quite as noticeable...lol

wheelchair baptism

hey hows it going? so this week has been good we had a baptism of a man who is in a wheelchair so he chose me to baptise him, so i had to carry him down into the font, then kneel down and baptise him like that but it took 3 times to get his legs to stay down, it was kinda hard to hold him up for soo long and then carry him out but we got it done and it was awesome! He is such an awesome guy i cant wait to see what he will do in the church. but im going to send some pictures right now so today will be a short letter but with lots of pictures hopefully!!! haha but i love you
adios
Elder Curtis

hair cut...scalping?

well hello family, so this week has been... interesting to say the least, first off the other 2 elders got taken out of our ward so now we have the WHOLE area and its big, so that's not too fun, we got 2 new zone leaders and they dont get along with too many people haha, we put some good families with baptisms dates so far we have 8 baptisms for august we'll see how many actually get baptized.
so Friday morning i noticed that my hair was getting a little shaggy so i borrowed my comps clippers and shaved my head down to a #4 so then i asked him to shave up the back of my neck so he grabbed the clippers and as I'm checking out my amazing self given hair cut in the mirror he gives me back the clippers while he went to get the other mirror so i could see the back to tell him where i want the line but... in the 3 seconds that he had the clippers he took the number 4 guard off before giving me back the clippers.. so as I'm in amazement of my sweet skills i noticed a long spot right between my left ear and the top of my head so without skipping a beat, OR looking at the clippers i took a good 2-2.5 inch CHUNK OF HAIR OUT!!! we're talking straight clipper NO guard i pretty much scalped myself, and i just sat there in shock as i hear the footsteps of my comp running upstairs warning me that it didn't have the guard, and as he came into the bathroom he turned and ran for his life while laughing until he made it to the front yard and couldn't catch his breath to run anymore and collapsed in laughter... while i am still in shock staring at this huge bald spot in my hair!! so i did what i could i put the #1 guard on and shaved it down as close as a could, so its still there but you cant see it as bad and me being way taller than everyone here it helps but my hair grows fast enough that in like a week it will be a number 2 so until then I'm walkin around looking like a Goober with a chunk taken out of my hair hahaha so that's the funny story of the week.
so then one day we went and visited a recent convert and she asked us for a blessing so we went back into this tiny closet (we were in her store) and my comp gave her one and it was really good and then her cousin who was visiting her came and asked us for a blessing so she asked me to give it, so she sat down and i asked her name and i had never even seen her before, but during the blessing i started talking about her marriage and a bunch of other stuff having to do with her marriage and these tough times she is going through and through prayer her faith in heavenly father everything will work out how heavenly father wants, so after the blessing she stood up and i was kinda nervous to see how she would react to talking about her marriage and never meeting her before but she just said thanks and walked out so it was kinda weird, so after that we left and we were kinda talking about it and my comp kinda asked me about how i felt about the blessing and i just told him i said what i felt and that's all and he just kinda laughed (kinda funny in the moment) so the next day we were working knocking doors in between appointments and as we came around a corner and my comp almost ran into that same lady i gave the blessing to, and she was really surprised to see us she started to tear up and said that our blessing was amazing it was exactly what she needed, and then she kinda introduced herself and told us she is a member but innactive for about a year and how she was going through very hard times with her husband and how she and her baby are living with her cousin (owner of store) because she finnaly got the courage to leave her husband who was abusive mentally and physically and was trying to decide wheather to move to another city about 2 hours away or try it again with her husband and she said this decision had been weighing her down really bad for the past week trying to decide, so she told us after we left that night she prayed for the first time in a long time and she really feels like she got an answer to leave with her mom so she said she will be leaving on wednesday but she wanted to talk to us again before she left so tomorrow on tuesday we have an appointment with her, but that was one of the best days of my mission to see that we really helped someone come back to the church because she promised us she was going to go back to church and i really hope she does, so i cant wait for tomorrow to talk to her again, well that was the amazing story of the week haha hopefully there are many more to come.
well its great to hear that the kids are doing good, does sam start kinder Garden this year? hows lia feel about 1st grade? im really excited about soccer for them haha it should be fun and funny to watch. and the rodeo sounds like a great time wish i could be there. well i better get going, im gonna try to send some pictures of my hair today but who knows but ill try, so i hope everything is going good, and mom i hope your feeling better, take it easy. OH OH there is a lady that i just talked to yesterday in my ward that said she just go back from the oakland temple and asked if i knew the Curtis couple serving there and i was so excited Yeah thay are my grandparents!!! she said Patty took a picture of her for her, its Hermana BuenDia from Mexico, Chalco. so that was really neat, and we ate soo much and soo good yesterday this family gave us a huge plate of fruit, Watermelon, Mango, and "Tuna"(or prickly pear from cactus) its a fruit down here and its good! so we ate 2 plates of fruit then a salad with pomegranites and a mango dressing, THEN 2 huge plates of lasagna and spagghette?sp and then! a steak with bean dip on the side and not just one but 2 servings of steak!!!! with fresh Horchata to drink!!! we were in heaven, and then to top it off we watched the Work and the Glory in ENGLISH!!! this family is amazing they are newly-weds of 6 months and he served in Rays mission. so this week was pretty much the best week EVER!!!!! alright now i better go, i love you guys soo much i hope you have a great week!
love,
Elder Curtis

got bit by a dog!!!!

well hows your week been mine has been pretty crazy, we had 2 baptisms scheduled but one backed out again at the last minute so thats a bummer but its just not his time i guess, so the other baptism that we had was an older woman who's nephew is the 2nd counselor to the bishop and has been trying to get her to get baptized but finnally we started teaching her and she started accepting everything and she stopped smoking and she was paying her tithing within a week of our lessons it was awsome to be a part of it i love it seeing the change happen in peoples lives it is amazing. so other than that we had changes today and me and my comp are staying together but the other 2 missionaries in our ward both got taken out so thats a bummer cause now our area is HUGE but we get to use bikes again so hopefully it will burn off all of the tacos hahaha. so me and my comp are taking some funny pictures cause both of our families are wanting more pictures so we trade cameras and take a bunch of random pictures haha so thats good. hmmm other than that its been raining hard core here with like rivers in the streets so thats not too much fun to work in. so the other day we were knocking doors and we were switching off every other door so we came to one house and it was my comps turn but he didnt want to knock it cause there was a big dog sitting right by the door so we went to the next house but as we were waiting i decided to go knock on the door with the dog, so as i walk up the dog looked friendly but as soon as my finger got 2centimeters from the door bell the dang dog jumped up and bit me right on the knee! i was shocked i didnt know what to do so i finally got loose and gave the dog a little kick and turned around to find my comp laughing... not only laughing ON THE GROUND ROLLING!!! hahaha and it was pretty funny it was a classic "i told ya so" moment so that was an exciting day, but other than that i cant really think of much other stories right now but ill tell you some more next week, well i gotta go i love you guys soo much, give sam and lia hugs.
i love you,
adios,
Elder Curtis

Just missing the boy (almost 1 year now!)