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