He's coming home!!!!

He's coming home July 13! We can hardly wait! Yes it's a month early, but we needed to make arrangements to get him home a little sooner, there was a family conflict...anyway the arranged to send him home early. I'll post pics later!
Cindy

new comp Elder Martinez

hey, so news from last week, we had changes and i now have a new comp. his name is elder martinez, hes from Merida, yucatan near cancun haha i now have a place to stay on vacation haha so ya i knew him his first day here in the mission he was in the area right next to mine and we took him to dinner his first day it was cool but that was 15 months ago but now he is gonna be the one to send me home kinda funny. so this week has been really good we have a zone baptism coming up on the 24th of july i think so it looks like we will baptize a few that day prob a couple. just gotta marry them first. but yeah other than that just trying not to think that my mission is coming to an end, but im happy, im happy with all that ive been apart of during these 2 years and how much its changed me. i think ive learned more on my mission in these 2 years than a lifetime without a mission, not just about the gospel but about life. its been amazing and i only have a short time left and i am going to finish the best i can. so yeah still no news on the return date but hopefully soon. but i better get going, i love you guys and thank you for all the support.
love
Elder Curtis

From Cindy
I got a couple of other messages from him later...he said that he talked to the mission pres. secretary and the Mission Pres. told him to try to get Josh a ticket mid July, thats kinda vague but it sounds like he'll be home in a couple of weeks!!!! I'll post as soon as we find out anything!

no letter

Sorry this week there hasn't been much of a letter just brief messages with promises of a letter tomorrow. Big news this week though is that he may be coming home a little early! He was tentatively scheduled to come home the 1st part of August and there were a bunch of conflicts as well as a desire to go to school. We talked to the mission president and Josh had an interview with him on Tues. to renew his recommend and talk with him about his plans. No word yet on what the Mission President will decide or when we will get him home. Josh is supposed to call Pres. Chavez tonight and get a decision. We will see!!!! It's wierd to think of him coming home! Mixed emotions all around! The crazy boy said I better not be emotional when he gets home...hmmmm nice try! So excited and sad that this part of our life is coming to an end. It's over way too soon and at the same time drug on forever. We are so grateful for all the support our wonderful friends and family have given us. What a journey it has been. Cherish every moment! They are over before you know it....
I'll post as soon as we have a date!
Cindy

Happy Fathers Day

well family first off, happy fathers day! dad thats to you! (haha in case you didnt know) well this week has been AWESOME we were working super hard and usually we get some good people and a lot of just alright people to teach, but this week we started and we had crazy good results we had a bunch of really good people to teach and hardly any just alright people and one of the best parts was that the people we found a lot were complete families which is always a plus, so we were super excited this week but with sunday being fathers day most of them couldnt come to church but they are all looking good for this sunday so we are happy here, and last sunday the bishop had all the recent converts give talks, and WOW it was amazing the talks they gave were soo good, simple and right to the point no fancy talk it was amazing i think it was my favorite sacrament meeting in my whole mission. so yeah my time here is going great even though its getting close to finishing but change is good. so im excited to see what else is in store for me after this. well im soo happy to hear that grandma is doing better with every day i cant believe so much stuff has happened in these 2 years. well this letter is short but it is what it is. haha well i hope all is going well and the kids are good, i love you guys and hope you guys are getting things settled in the new house.
well i love you.
Elder Curtis

World cup

hey family, wow crazy stuff going on in round valley huh a plane crashing into the high school wow. well down here everything is going good nothing too crazy, besides the FIFA World Cup going on and all the mexicans thinking that mexico is going to win hahahaha yeah its along shot but anything for a party. so this week was good the work kinda slowed down with all the soccer going on and when soccer is on nobody answers their doors so its kinda lame but we are doing what we can. so me and my comp are still getting along good and enjoying our time here. today we had a brutal soccer game and the losers paid for lunch, well we won nuf said. so we ate good. other than that we had a zone conference on saturday and it was good, the president was the only one who spoke, and my spiritual thought for the conference is now our mission scripture haha cool, heleman 3:34-35, good stuff so yeah everything is going great and im loving it here, i cant wait to get back and see everyone, only 57 more days its going fast but im making the best of it. well im glad you enjoyed the pics and im sorry im not writing more haha i think its gradually gotten less and less over the 2 years haha well i love you guys!
love,
Elder Curtis

awesome soccer game!

alright well this might be a short letter because i was sending pictures but it said they couldnt be delivered to your email so im doing it from a different email but its slower, so short email and hopefully the pictures work. so it sounds like things are going good soo far for you guys which im glad hear and especially for grandma thats great that shes doing good i cant wait to see her, hopefully she gets better soon. so this week has been really awesome down here we found some great people and are doing good, me and my comp are doing good and getting along great, i still dont have the adress but i dont think a package will get here in time so dont worry about it... haha sorry. so today we had our meeting then we had a brutal but awesome game of soccer and now we are here getting ready for the buffet again kinda a new monday tradition haha but yeah i better get going but i hope you got the pics if not tell me and ill send them again, well i love you.
love
Elder Curtis

from Cindy

Sorry that i haven't got his blog updated as fast as I'd like. We are in Safford and well, things are still in boxes and still figuring out things. So no computer right now. Soon! No word yet on his actual release time, hopefully in the next few weeks. I am amazed at how well he's doing and am grateful he's had this opportunity. We love you all and will try to get things under control!
Cindy

buffet time

wow thats crazy that you guys are actually in safford now, thats hard to imagine, i still remember the day we left haha and now you guys are back again. so down here my week was really good im really enjoying my new area and slowly getting to know it and all the members, so today we had our meeting at 8:30 am to have the afternoon free because we are hitting up a buffet!! haha its supposed to be a good one like golden corral style with steak and mashed potatoes... im hopeing its true i havent eaten a steak in a long time, the meat here is all sliced really thin they dont eat it thick cut, ever. so we are super excited for that. hmm other than that friday we had a baptism and it was really good and went as planned. so yeah life is going great down here, its getting pretty exciting with all the soccer going on everyone watches it, and if they dont have tv they just go to the street vendors stands with like 20 other people and they watch it on a tiny tv haha so people are always yelling fouls and a lot of cus words haha and the world cup is about to start so its getting even more crazy when the national team plays haha they think they are gonna win the world cup hahaha but its fun, soccer is awsome i love it. so me and my comp are doing good and we are getting along really good, i just make fun of him for being soo green sometimes haha and the fact that i go home soon and that he is gonna be here for 3 christmases hahaha he just laughs but he also gives me crap so its mutual, oh so we have a member who brings us cereal every sunday to eat during the week so that got me in the habit of eating breakfast, so if you have the chance to make some granola, my comp and i would appreciate it a lot haha, but the mail here has been taking a long time to get here so im going to get you the address of our house where we live and you can just send it directly to me here. sound good, so yeah thats pretty much it, nothing too exciting, oh we found 2 cool families yesterday haha but they have a lot of problems and questions and the husband was super drunk when we were teaching and he just kept looking at me all wierd and when we left he hugged me and said he liked how i talk haha because i lost my patience and was being really blunt with him and it looks like it helped a little, they invited us to eat on saturday and they want to hear more so it will be interesting. well i fasted yesterday for grandma and hopefully all goes well tomorrow, ill keep her in my prayers.
well i better finish up, i love you guys
love,
Elder Curtis

Elder Aguilar, new comp

wow the temple dedication sounds awsome! im glad you guys got to go to the first session, and thats crazy that the prophet stoped to talk to amy and them that would have been awsome to be there. so the move is getting really close i cant believe it haha going home to a new place, but im excited for you guys it should be fun. so yeah this week has been kinda crazy, im in my new area and its still pretty close to where i was before about 30 min in public transportation. its called espartaco and our church is one of the biggest in size in all of mexico so its pretty cool, the members here are awsome so far and they give us soo much to eat im pretty sure im going to gain weight haha on sunday they gave us 2 boxes of cereal and 16 apples and a bunch of flour tortillas haha so they treat us pretty good but not as good as the states. lately ive been getting a lot more crap from the people for being from arizona, how is it back there. so my new comp is elder aguilar and he was born in idaho and when he was 4 yrs old his family moved back to tijuana mexico so he speaks some good english but im helping him speak better, so im his trainer, hes only got 5 months in the mission but hes doing good and we are learning from eachother which is good. so yeah our house is also pretty awsome it looks like ive got some pretty good luck with getting good houses. so yeah my new area is awsome the members are awsome and we have a baptism on friday so its going good and time feels like its going faster which is not good, 11 weeks haha well thats pretty much the news for this week.
i love you guys and hope all goes weel with the move.
love
Elder Curtis

transferred

hello family well this week has been good haha it started with a haircut finally it was getting long so now its buzzed back down, and we put 3 people with baptism dates that are gonna get baptized this saturday. we had a new family in the church with us on sunday so everythng was going really good but then changes came around, and im getting transfered, my new area isnt too far from here maybe 20min and im going to a place called churubusco but im not exactly sure where at. so yeah but change is good i like meeting new people but ill probably finish my mission there so thats cool. but i dont want to leave my house here haha im gonna miss all the space and my big closet but thats life hahaha so kim gets home in 6 weeks wow thats crazy how fast that went by, i left before her and she gets home before me hmmm not cool. so yeah not a whole lot of stuff to write about this week and not too much time because i gotta go say goodbye to all the families here so im sorry for such a short letter but ill make it up to you next week, oh and yeah i do catch a lot of crap from the members from being from arizona but they are just messin around.
well i love you guys and miss you i hope all is going good and the move and all, good luck with it all. wish i could be there to help.
Elder Curtis

Mother's Day Call

well hello again haha so it was really cool talking to everyone yesterday. i cant believe that the next time i talk to you guys i will be back home, only 3 months i cant believe how fast its all gone by. well im happy to hear you guys made it back home with no problems. so yesterday when we got home my comp was saying how much he misses his family and stuff and talking to them made him miss them more because they were just talking about when he gets home and the party and all that stuff but he only has 6 months left so not to much longer, but when i talk to you guys on the phone it doesnt make me homesick or anything it actually helps me realize that this doesnt last forever and i need to focus because talking to kevin, jay, and dustin all say it goes by fast so im more focused on the things i need to be doing down here and i know when the time comes for me to leave everything will work out how it is supposed to. so dont worry about me im doing great and loving every minute of it. so yeah well i dont have a whole lot to write about having talked to you just yesterday, but i love you and happy mothers day. give the kids a hug and tell them i love them.

Elder Curtis
p.s.
the package if you want to just not worry about it haha i probably wont even be in this area by the time it gets here and then ill be close to going home so dont worry about it and we will make jerky when i get home. plus i eat way to much junk food down here as it is to get more from home. thank you though.

Carnitas! and a Cock Fight?

hey family so this week has been a pretty eventfull week down here in mexico for me and Elder Ramirez well on wednesday we went on divisions with our district leaders and well it was the end of the month and it just happens to be that it was the fair of the town so the catholic people throw a big party for the birthday of the town so they have all kinds of fireworks going off 24/7 but not the ones that blow up with colors just the ones that blow up really loud haha so that was kinda annoying but imagine the fair in safford but instead of at the fairgrounds they shut down all the streets in the middle of town and put all the rides and stands in the streets so all the streets were crammed with people trying to get their cars through and carnies setting up all their stuff so it was pretty cool but at the end of the day on the way home we decided to buy some bread but not just any ol bread its called "pan de feria" haha or "fair bread" real origional but its really good its got nuts raisins and all kinds of other stuff but its really tasty so that was a good end to the day. so then on saturday we had 2 baptisms but neither of them could do it at the same time so we had 2 different baptisms one at 10 am and the other at 2 pm and then to top of the day we were invited to eat at 3 different parties for the fair, plus our scheduled meal haha and of course we cant say no so we had 4 big meals on saturday haha it was great, and for big parties the favorite meal is called "carnitas" also my personal favorite but carnitas are like deep fried ribs and different parts of the pig, but they are the best tacos ever!! so then on sunday church was good we had the confirmations and then another family invited us to eat with them so after church and our first meal we went to meal number 2 and we knock on the door and the sister opens the door and inside its like a courtyard patio thing with like 5 separate houses and in the middle their is a big ring of people and the brother of the house is running a Cock Fighting tournamant haha it was awsome i aways wanted to see a cock fight and finnaly after 21 months i got to see one well a lot actually, and we ate more carnitas it was a great day. oh and the cock fights got a little crazy when you combine a macho activity, beer and bets and it usually ends in a brawl haha and thats what happened a big fight broke out but it was all good it got rid of the problem causers. so yeah and then today we had the meeting and then played some ultimate frisbee haha a new favorite here in the mission haha well i better get going gotta go eat some waffles haha i love you guys and have a great day!!
ELDER CURTIS

power outage

well hello family so yeah on monday when we came to the internet cafe we were here for 10 min and all the sudden there was a big explosion and all kinds of colors and smoke and sparks and i thought there was an accident outside but it was just that the transformer right outside the internet like blew up... it was kinda crazy so then we go walking down the street to find a new internet and as we were walking it happened again right next to us and this time some of the lines actually fell on the ground and al the people were running and screaming and stuff so it was kinda crazy so thats why but during the day a family invited us to her sons birthday party so we thought free food and cake... OF COURSE! so we helped decorate and we ate our fare share of tacos and cake and then we got to play with like 20 kids like 10 yrs old haha they rented a huge bounce house thing and me and my comp would grab the kids by their wrists and ankles and throw them onto it haha it was pretty fun but after a while we got tired to then we did jump rope with all of them haha fun stuff. So today in the morning we woke up to get ready for our zone conference and my shoulders are pretty sore from all the kids yesterday haha. The conference today was really good i enjoyed it a lot, we talked about "where we come from" about our lineage from Noah and his 3 sons Jafet, Sem, and Cam and the blessings and curses and why we were born wherever we were born so it was really interesting.
So the move sounds like its coming along pretty good getting all the loose ends taken care of, thats good people are interested in it hopefully it sells fast, how much are you asking? so im still here in the city, a place called San Pedro Martir, Tlalpan, its in the southern part of the valley up in the foothills but its still big city, our 2 wards are doing pretty good and in the city, well parts of the city we eat pretty good, but out in the small town is when you get the wierd stuff but it fun to try new stuff, tacos of cow head, cow tongue and eyes haha. so what im going to miss the most... hmmm just everything about being a missionary, all of the experiences we have on a daily basis its a combination of highs and lows and its something special to be a part of, having friends wherever we go because people recognize the name-tag and start talking to us and where they are from and stuff like. something im looking forward to would be freedom haha its a little restrictive in the mission haha seeing the family, going to school haha ive forgoten everything. and one of the most looked forward to is driving hahaha i miss it soo much. haha jk but ya so thats whats going on down here, i hope all is still going good for you guys.
i love you guys.
Elder Curtis

Ward night!

April 19, 2010
hello family, so another week has come and gone and we are on the downhill side of this month so thats good, and that means its about May and that means its almost mothers day, the day i get to talk to you guys. haha i cant wait to talk to lia and sam, they are getting soo big and have changed a lot in the past 20 months. so other than that me and my companion are doing great, we are getting along really good and we are working hard. we are having success and the month of may is looking to be a good month with probably 6 baptisms this month which is really cool i hope all goes well with the people with baptism dates. we have 2 families that are ready to be baptized so im excited, i love baptizing whole families its one of the coolest things to be a part of. so yesterday we had ward conference in one of our wards and it was really good we had a new family there with us and one of our old investigators just showed up which was really cool, and the talks were pretty good i hope the members payed attention haha.
so dad got released... well it had to happen sooner or later, who got put in? and you guys are gonna start moving stuff down there, where are you gonna put it at?? well ALL my stuff, and i do mean ALL should be there haha ill have to go through it all this time i guess, organize and throw stuff away. well that is just about all i can think of thats going on for us down here, i hope you guys are doing good and arent to busy getting everything figured out for the move. well tell the kids i love them and give them hugs, i love you guys.
love,
Elder Curtis
***Bobby Udall got put in to replace Sean. He’ll do awesome!
well this week has been awsome, me and my comp are doing awsome and yes i am teaching him to speak english haha its really funny because i totally know what he feels like not understanding anything like when i first got to mexico but hes doing good. but we are tearing it up here with baptizms coming up pretty soon and the members love us here and are always feeding us and giving us food which is kinda rare here but its cool, we started a good program thing here called "ward night" haha where we pretty much just go play soccer at night on fridays and after we buy some sodas and me and my comp share a message and yeah the members invite their non member or inactive friends to come play and we usually end up teaching the whole group of like 25 people the lessons but its good even for the members to hear the lessons because its like a reminder of what we should be doing as members so its awesome i love it here in these wards i hope i stay here for the rest of my mission but who knows its up to my president, so yeah im doing great down here and loving it more and more every day.
haha just a random chunk of information for you guys haha sorry its kinda out of context but its better than nothing haha and yes im looking forward to talking to you guys, so your going to safford?? (for the Mother’s Day call) its up to you guys if you want to stay home its all good ill be home soon enough to talk to everyone else
Elder Curtis

Elder Ramirez

hey family so first things first haha your questions here we get the liahona in english sometimes spanish, no i dont need the talks on cd thanks though. my new comp is mexican his name is elder Ramirez and he is from chihuahua, chihuahua and is pretty cool and we get along really good, its wierd not speaking english because ive had american comps for the last 10 months haha almost a year, and my comp speaks no english so thats kinda good to help me with my spanish. my comp has 3 months less than me so hes not exactly new we both are getting ready to finish the mission pretty soon, when he saw our house he thought i was playin a joke on him haha he wouldnt go inside causde he didnt think it was our house till he saw all my stuff haha he was pretty excited about it. so this past week we have been working really good together and showing him around the area, his old area was way out in the middle of nowhere so hes excited about being back in the big city. so yeah we are doing great here, a few weeks ago we had to speak in church which is still no fun, no way im speaking in 2 wards when i get back haha its a one time deal! so dad got the job in pima thats awsome haha the commute might be longer than it used to be going all the way to pima haha but that would be way cool to buy the house next to the welkers old house. but either way you guys will find the best thing to do and it will all work out like it should. haha its funny that the kids are already complaining about the heat and its only april haha but theyll get used to it. so yeah and in another month we get to talk on the phone for the last time till i get home haha so yeah i hope all is going good for you guys back home and i hope the family is doing better. well i better get going but i love you guys. give lia and sam hugs for me.
love
Elder Curtis

new comp Elder Ramirez

Well hello family. So this week was another good week for us down here and to make it better was the general conference, and wow it was a good one and like you said a lot of it was focused on parents and mothers but I really enjoyed it. We were only able to watch the 2 sessions on Sunday but I'll read the rest in the Liahona next month because I heard they were all good like always. So other big news this week is tomorrow we have changes and my companion is leaving but he is only going to the area right next to us haha we are still in the same zone and same district so we will still be seeing eachother on a regular basis. So the elder coming here with me is Elder Ramirez he is my first Mexican companion in almost a year haha just americans haha so hopefully this will really help my Spanish so I'm happy about that. So ya that's the news that's going on down here with us.
So wow Pima huh... Haha that's cool I'm excited that you guys are starting to get all the loose ends figured out to get things going and get moved down there. I'm super excited for you guys to be down there with the family. I might have to stick around down there with you guys for a while haha.
So it sounds like your Easter weekend was exciting especially for Sam with all that sugar haha I didn't even know it was Easter till they mentioned it in the conference. So ya that's about it for this week just the same ol stuff, work work work. But I'm loving it.
well I love you guys and I hope all is going great for you guys back home give the kids hugs for me and tell em I love them and miss them soo much.
I love you,

Elder Curtis

20 months down!

well hello family how is everything going for you guys this week? well for me this week has been great, we are teaching some awsome people still and they are really excited about the church so hopefully things keep going good and they can progress even more. so today was p-day and these days are always fun we had the meeting in the morning and then played some soccer and a few rounds of boxing and 2 bloody noses today so all in all it was a good day then we changed and went down to the Aztec Stadium for some good food and now we are just relaxing getting ready to wash clothes and clean house haha my favorite... NOT. so ive almost got 20 months in the mission which is crazy to think about and all my buddies from the mission are finishing their missions and going back to the real world its crazy but i think i am going to miss the mission like crazy this time that i have here is going soo fast and i know i am going to miss it, but next tuesday are the changes so we will see if i get to stay in this area or if im leaving either way i will be happy so its a win-win situation for me. so yeah other than that everything is going better than ever! i hope you guys are doing good, hows the house going?? how are lia and sam doing? lia still loving school? alright well i better get going, i love you guys soo much i dont know what i would do without you.
love,
Elder Curtis

Pics!

lots of work!

Hey so how's everything going back home? Well down here everything is going great! We have a lot of work going in here and it's keeping us real busy which is good. We have some people that are preparing for baptisms and progressing really good. Last Monday we took a trip up to the zocolo and downtown and did some shopping so it was a good Monday an today we played some soccer and just relaxin cleaning house and washin clothes not as exciting as last Monday but good to relax. So Ray is home now haha that's cool but he's going up to Utah that sucks everyone is up there but it's cool. So changes are coming up and I'll probably get changed but it's all good I like getting to know new areas and new people. So on Sunday we took 3 new people to church it was cool one of them was this Jehovahs witness guy that preaches in parks and in the street haha and we invited him and he was really nice and accepted so he came and said he liked it but I doubt he will come back but it was interesting. Well not much else is going on. Hopefully you guys can figure something our down there haha it's coming up quick. Well that's about it I hope all is going great.
I love you guys
Adios

Elder Curtis

he got the house!

Well the news for this week is WE GOT THE HOUSE!! haha we are super stoked about that and we are planning a BBQ with the other elders at the house. Some good stuff in the plans haha and our new wards are still awsome anything we need they help us get they are amazing well one ward is awsome the other is just good. But the work here is great we are finding and teaching soo many new families not just single people, so instead of 1 we have families of 3-6ish so it's great and it's really what we as missionaries look for is whole families to save so I am loving it. The worst thing so far is we don't have money to buy gas so we will be showering cold for another few weeks, cold showers since early February haha and we shower at night so the sun can heat the water up as much as possible during the day hahaha trust me it makes a difference at least in my mind it does haha. Well the family sounds about the same 3 steps forwards 2 steps backwards just keep pluggin along little by little it will hopefully get better. The house sounds good and all the holes in my room haha ya not fun but it sounds like it's coming along good I'm excited for you guys. What are you gonna do with all the animals when you move? Alright well not much else to talk about. My comp elder decker and I are doing good just living the dream on the mission. I love it!
Well I love you guys and miss you
Mom happy 41st birthday this week hahaha
love,

Elder Curtis

2 Baptisms this week!

Hey so this week has been awsome!!! We have been doing great we taught some amazing people and we had 2 baptisms on sunday and we might have found the best house EVER! the house is from a member and she just uses it to store some of their junk since they live right down the road so this house just got remodeled and is almost new it has a front and back yard haha very rare in Mexico and inside it's 4 bedrooms and a big bathroom it's got a sweet firepit and grill area on the patio it's awsome now we are just waiting for our president to authorize it so we can move in I really hope we get it haha. So the 2 baptisms were a young girl of 8 and a older man like 55 and this man has like 30 years knowing te church (wife is member) and like 10 years going to church every Sunday but never wanted to get baptized he said it was never the right time. So we didn't really do anything we just talked with him a couple times and on Sunday he came to church like normal and as we were getting the font ready for the little girl he comented to the bishop that "today was the day"! It was awsome all the members were super excited to see this man after 10 years get baptized the stake president came and most of the ward stayed for the baptism it was really neat. Other than that we are teaching some really good families that are progressing really good so ya this new area is going great I'm loving it. So yeah that's the stuff going on down here so the pictures look good I could only open some right now but I'll look at the rest later. I got the package on Friday and we opened it and between me and my comp and montalvo and his comp we ate a bag of M&Ms and a box of good and plentys it was really good haha thanks for everything the shoes work perfect. Well that's all I got for ya today I miss you and love you so much!
Adios

Elder Curtis

21st birthday

Hey fam so yeah this week is still kinda a wierd one still looking for a new house in the new area but we went to our new wards yesterday to meet the members and stuff so it was cool they all seem really good and are really excited to have missionaries back in their wards and both of the ward mission leaders seem good so I'm really excited. Well bein our first day in our new area we had a lot of meeting with the bishops and stuff and not knowing anyone we didn't do anything for my birthday it was just another day. I still haven't gotten the package so who knows how much longer.
So are the Cricks living in our ward now? I think I remember you saying that where are they living at? Haha Justin is back that is soo wierd and Ray gets back in 2 weeks that's cool but yeah most of the missionaries are having trouble with emails because the myldsmail is getting changed so I think I hav a new address for the church site but I haven't really checked on it lately.


so the house sounds like it's coming along good I'm excited to see it. And hopefully grandmas operation goes good, I'm kinda worried but I'll keep her in my prayers.
Well that's about it. Not much else I can think about but I love you guys!
Adios

Elder Curtis

staying with Decker, but getting pulled from area!

Hey well today we got the changes and me and Decker are staying together another change so that's good so 4 1/2 months with him which is not very common but both my American comps have been with me for that time so I guess I'm just lucky. So the other good news is we are leaving our area to open a new ward, well 2 wards. The pres finnaly took us out of this ward and no one else is going to come here so this place won't have any elders. So our new area is not to far away and we will be in our same zone and district so that's cool and we have heard some good stuff about these new wards. But this week is gonna be interesting changing wards and looking for a new house and getting to know everyone especially the sisters who feed us!! Haha so yeah this week we have been making all our food that we have in our house like deckers mom sent him a thanksgiving package with all kinds of food so this week we had mashed potato pearls with gravy it was soo good and last night we made a cranberry raspberry jello with pecans it's really good. So we still have brownies and stuffing and candied yams so we might make the rest some day. So today we played some soccer and wrestled around it was fun just relaxin and tomorrow looking for a house and new area stuff. Well not much else is going on just 4 more changes till I'm back north of the border so that's coming up soon. So the house sounds like it's comming along good wish I was there to help. Well that's all I can think of right now. Talk to ya later. I love you guys!!
Adios

Elder Curtis

boxing with Josh?

Hey! Yeah so the rain stopped and the heat came, that's mexico cold hot cold hot its not too fun but everything is back to normal this week. So in our ward we are starting to have some issues and its getting pretty bad. Our bishop hasn't been to church in almost 6 weeks and our stake president has been there with us some sundays but the members are not doing good and starting problems in between the 2 big families that make up our ward. So it hasn't been to much fun but we are trying to do what we can and keep a smile on. We have been hearing rumors about our area getting closed and taking the missionaries out of it for a while which would be a good idea, so hopefully the pres. can figure something out that works... but its all good whatever he decides will work. So yeah he called us to go to his office last week and we were kinda nervous about why and then he asked to speak to me alone... haha I was super scared but he just said that the mission department finnally got back to him about my asking to go back for the police academy and i explained that it had been cancelled and he said that it all got figured out but we had a good chat and i told him i had come to the conclusion that i want to stay till August and finish so he asked if i was sure and i said yes so i'll be here only 6 more months...Crazy! its going fast. So today everyone wanted to play football and box so we met at the church and my comp agreed to box me! haha i was a little nervous but he kinda wanted too, so i agreed and my first punch landed on his jaw... which snapped him to the reality that he is really boxing a 6´8´´ 320 man haha he stopped for a second then kept going haha i felt bad. So i wasnt swinging hard but i has so much of a reach advantage i was hitting him alot, we boxed for like a minute and a half and it ended him him almost being knocked out twice a bloody nose and a massive headache hahaha I kinda felt bad but we enjoyed it! Most of the elders boxed and there was minimal blood so then we decided to play football so they kicked off to our team and i started lead blocking for the guy with the ball and my comp runs toward me to hit me so I ¨blocked¨ him haha which ended in him flying backward and hitting another elder who somehow really hurt his knee... i felt really bad for him hopefully its nothing serious. so yeah then we climbed ontop of the church and took some pictures and then to the mall so now im here and ya i kinda feel like a bully but it was fun. so i have been thinking a lot lately which is not exactly my best talent but i've really been thinking about trying to play football for a college in arizona ASU, UofA, UNLV, or up in montana with the griz. ive been thinking about it a lot but i dont know what do you guys think, tuition with books at asu and u of a is like 6,500 how much can grants give? just wondering. well thats about it just thoughts about after the mission but ya other than that all is going good and im lovin it,
i love you guys
adios
Elder Curtis

More Pictures!

Josh at baptism with his old trainer, Elder Peredo (has the white badge and is on his left). Josh and Elder Decker at Arturo Estrella's baptism in Tlalpan. I love how Josh looks like a giant in these! lol

More Pictures!

There is one of Josh in front of the fountain at the National Palace. 2 Pics of his District - the light haired missionary is Elder Decker his companion, the other American is Elder Montovlo( his friend from the MTC and his district leader). The very fancy dining room is in a member's home that fed them Christmas dinner...nice huh?

New Pictures!

These are some pictures of Josh on the roof after all the rain. A picture of thier "house"? And one of him in the National Palace in the Zocalo (that's Lia's favorite)

flooded!

well today i dont have much time so im just gonna send some pictures and a small letter, we have to tech our district meeting today so we have to plan a lesson on how to find people to teach so im sorry but hopefully the pictures will make up for it haha and the scariest thing to happen to me is pretty much nothing ha nothing has happened to me that i can remember just drunks yelling at us in the street but thats just mexico, the rains were crazy it rained for 3 days straight and was super windy it almost blew our roof off because its just sheet metal and our windows aren't sealed so water came in everywhere and there is a window right above my bed so i pretty much got rained on all night the next morning my whole bed was soaked and our house was flooded! and we were without power and water for almost 4 days then the power and water came back saturday morning so we showered and washed clothes and that afternoon it went out again till sunday afternoon it was no fun now our house smells like mildew and is super dirty so we also get to clean today, so thats about it ill send the pics and ya
i love you guys soo much!

elder curtis

not a lot of success still :(

**From Cindy - So sorry this didn't get updated! Just got a new calling and it's been crazy getting it all figured out! We happened to catch him at the right time on the computer so we were able to "chat" back and forth a little. It was so fun!
Thanks so much for all the prayers on his behalf! We love our family and appreciate all the support he has!

Dear Family,
Wow 8 years happy anniversary! That's cool so ya it's going good down here another cold front hit the other day and has been raining off and on so it's cold and wet. Our family home evening project is starting out kinda rocky people canceling and plain forgeting so that's not fun of the 2 we've had one canceled the other forgot so we shall see hopefully it picks up but who knows I'm starting to think me and my comp are gonna be taken out of this area and no more elders are gonna come because the work is soo slow here but who knows feb. 20 we have changes and we will find out then. So other than that me and my comp are doing good and we are starting to write in our journals as a goal so right now at least 1 time a week and hopefully get better. So yeah but today we are just cleaning around the house and doing laundry out p days aren't that fun anymore with this new pres we can't to anything.
um so the package maybe some M and Ms I like those but whatever you get I will enjoy just not gum or hard candy I still have a bunch and no hygene products I have plenty of that stuff to last me the next 6 months haha.
And baptisms of those kids is up to the mission president to set those guidelines some after a week others after 3 or 4 like us but who knows. Well not much else to talk about haha sorry write me back if I forgot to answer something alright talk to ya later. I love you


Elder Curtis
Don't even think about messing with my stuff!!!! And i'm in mosiah 12 haha
Yeah elder allred he's my buddy he got a glass bottle busted over the back of his head and they got beat up but yeah
Elder Curtis

Oh and what's this that I hear someone from your mission got jumped? That true? Just curious...did you hear about the missionaries from Romania that died? I guess there was a gas leak in their apartment and they died in their sleep. My heart goes out to their parents.
So on a positive note....what's your favorite experience so far? Favorite scripture? Still Hel. 5:12? Favorite person that you have meet and will want to see again....anyone? Just wondering? Sorry your pday sucks. So no sight seeing? What town are you in again I have it as Tlalpan? I love you. Sam said if you don't answer that means yes!
mom

we aren't allowed to have our gas tanks inside because of accidents like that one the leaders Check to make sure they are outside
And I'm in tlalpan it's part of the city in the southern tip we are right by the center of tlalpan in the neighborhood called tlacoligia if you can find it on google earth.
And to visit or see again there are a few families that I will probably keep in contact with some are members I have reactivated and a few converts so yeah
Elder Curtis

What the heck? Are you speed reading all of a sudden? Maybe I'm understanding more than you are...
oh and your brother is crying because you won't let him trash your snow board....I tried to tell him that you still wanted it...he said you were WAY too big for it now. He said okay I won't put wheels on it he just wants to learn to snowboard now... he was watching snowboarding x games or something like that and is sure he can figure it out. he's a goof.
love you
mom

Haha I read it almost twice a day and through most of church haha
Buy Sam a cheap skateboard from ALCO or something.
Elder Curtis

That's not the point he wants your stuff...what can I say the picklehead comment ticked him off, he's bound and determined to do something to you. He's a nut. and desperatly thinks when you get home he's going to kick your trash. ha ha.
So Elder Allred, what happened? Just walking down the street? Crazy.
I'm glad you are staying awake during church. I guess I just suck. So are you at a cafe or something just scanning the web?
love you
mom

Yeah him and his comp were just walking around doing work and he had a leather jacket on cause it was cold and they beat them up. And yeah we are at a cafe
Elder Curtis

how long are you going to be there?
sorry my blog isn't current. haven't been able to get the new camera yet...soon I hope. Do you have your camera there? Uhmmm maybe a little anniversary photo gift for the mom???? I'm not above begging! love you
be good, if I don't get with you later! tell Decker him too! I messaged his Dad and said hi! ha ha
mom

And no camera with me haha
Elder Curtis

Hey hey another request for the package!!! The biggest bag of Swedish
fish you can find and the biggest bag of good n plenties and M&Ms if
you want haha thanks I love you!
Elder Curtis

speaking in church

Dear family.
Yeah we are feeling better but it was not fun oh I forgot to tell you that we also got to speak in church a few weeks ago and sure enough I still hate speaking haha I spoke on charity haha our president doesn't let us speak on anything having to do with mission work it's good though some elders would ask for references and tell the members how bad they are at helping with the work haha so the bishop asked us to speak on mission work and we explained we couldn't so he gave us other topics but it's even less fun when me and my comp have the full 40 min! Not fun. So other than that the lawyer guy and his friends don't live in our area so we had to hand them over to other elders it a bummer. But this Sunday we are starting a new program with the ward because if we don't start having more success here with the members and investigators the mission president will take us both out of here and there won't be elders so we are trying a new project. We are
going to members houses like 3 different ones a week to help them with family home evenings and eventually have the families invite people to come to listen to their lesson and we will be there to help and show how to teach investigators so it should be good it was the idea of the bishopric so hopefully the members will actually participate and do something hahaha but we shall see.
So snow eh wow that's awsome I wish it snowed here I miss it a lot. It snowed in my comps house like 1 inch and his family was all excited and he was showing me pictures and stuff and then I told him how much it snowed at home. I can't believe sunrise closed from too much snow that's crazy. Haha so yeah other than that everything is going good. I hope all is great back home well gotta get to washing clothes FUN! not. I love you guys.

p.s. Haha what do you think about Vegas. Working where Ray and those guys worked? Good money... Haha you could ask Steve or collene if Daniel is hiring in a few months....? Please? Haha or get his email for me.
What is up with Lia's teeth hahaha and no I'm doing great I don't know why you think I've been down. The work in this area is super slow and not much success but that's all I'm doing great

Oh and I did check at walmart and it costs money to put them on the website so I haven't checked any further haha but I'll take some more pictures

Elder Curtis

twisted ankles/ stomach flu

Hey fam so it's almost the end of January that's crazy to think about. Today we went and played soccer with the elders and it was good I'm just a little slower now I twisted my ankle last week playing soccer and it's still sore. I think I've twisted my ankles like 7 times during the mission haha and early Friday morning my comp left our room in a hurry and I soon found out why, as the sound and smell of vomiting filled our small "house" haha and that continued all morning till about 5 haha I just felt bad for him. So I went and found a store open at that time to get him a coke with lime Mexican medicine for stomach aches so Saturday afternoon we went to the zocalo to eat china buffet ( members gave us money for lunch ) so that was good but halfway through my stomach started hurting and as we got home I new there was something trying to kill me from the inside out! And that feeling lasted untill Sunday night it was not fun but I didn't vomit so that was
good haha and other than that it was the usual missionary stuff we found a lawyer guy and he invited us to his office to teach him about the book of Mormon and he invited his 3 friends so that was cool teaching them they look good but I think they live outside of our area so we shall see how that goes but yeah it was a good week for us.
My journal haha yeah I kinda stopped writing but I want to start back doing it but it's hard to do it I don't know why it just is haha maybe I'll do it once a week or something. I'll figure something out. Well I miss you guys and I hope your having a great time down there. Have you heard anything about the ranch? I'm really excited about it. I really hope it works out I think it would be a great thing for our whole family to do and I would love to help out. Maybe ride a horse again haha well I love you.
Adios

Elder Curtis

Cold in Mexico!

Hey so this week has been good but the weather is terrible. It's been really cold and overcast the whole week and our house is freezing! And it's been raining for the past 3 days but it should let up till Wednesday ad then another cold front is due to hit. So the winters in Mexico are not what I thought they were. COLD. but it's my last one so I'm not to bummed. So tomorrow is the changes but I'm with my comp another 6 weeks i can't believe how fast this last 6 weeks flew by. So yeah everything here is going great we might go to wal-mart today so I will check on that picture part. So how's Ray doing have you talked to his parents? Is Tell gone yet? Well I'm excited for you guys to go down to safford to live there I think it will be fun. I'm still trying to decide about school or what to do when I get back, but there is still some time. I'm still kinda thinkin about coming back a month early just to have some time to figure everything out before it's too late for school and stuff. What do you think about that like July 13 just a thought. So grandma is going in for surgury? When? Where? I hope she's getting better. Well other than that not much is going on here just work work work keeping us busy. My birthday package. Hmmm maybe those shoes. Candy haha no hard candy I still have a lot from last year a big bag of jolly ranchers from Shonna so M&Ms are good nuts anything. Pictures anything you want. Well that's all I can think of now if I think of anything else I'll send another one later. Thanks so much for everything I love you guys!
Adios

Elder Curtis

Hey so quick note I would like some GOOD AND PLENTYS in my package like a good amount of them haha if you can I've been wanting those petty bad lately haha so yeah I'll think about the whole coming home timeline. But other than that all is good I can't remember what else I was going to tell you.... Hmmmm who knows. Well that's all I love you

Elder Curtis

exciting day....not!

Hey sorry it took me soo long to write today was kinda long and boring just cleaning and washing clothes still not the suit haha but soon hopefully. So this letter will br short cause it's late but I might write some more tomorrow to finish up so this week was good we worked pretty hard and our work payed off we had a new person at church yesterday so that was cool his name is Juan David and he's 18 so hopefully he will stick with it and get baptized. Umm my comp said that D'anne is his aunt so that's cool. And Paige is engaged haha yeah I was talking to her a few Months back and she said she was planning the engagement for December haha but that's cool her fiancé sounds like a good guy. It just wierd to think about people getting married haha Anyways so Lia has eye problems already haha I hope she won't need glasses that would be a bummer. So she is still loving school huh and how's she gonna like being told she had to be home-schooled?? Might want to ease her into that one it should be interesting. *(side note from Cindy - the homeschooling issue is part of a much larger dilema. Lots of possibilities for our adventure in Safford. Before we can leave acquiring jobs and selling the house need to happen...soon!!! )
So new thoughts .... I've been thinking a lot about what to do after the mission if I want to go to school or just work It would be better to at least have an assoc. In something rather than nothing but I just can't decide something to do with criminal justice but not limited to that field only ya know. So if you guys could give me some feedback haha your thoughts would be nice. Other than that it's going great and the new year looks good already! I can't wait to see what it has in store lots of good stuff. Well I better get going tell the kids I love them and I love you guys.
Adios

Elder Curtis