Maligayang Pasko!

Merry Christmas Family,

 

BEST PRESENT EVER WAS SEEING YOU ALL!! Oh how I miss you!! Well family, you are all beautiful! Sheesh. It was hard to say goodbye, but then my comp skyped and it was good to meet her cute family. Her mom was taking notes! so cute right? Haha!! I was laughing so hard. What a good Christmas on my mission, honestly.

After we skyped we ATE! That's it. Our first appoint was all seafood. I actually like seafood now crazy right? I am so happy. It's really yummy here. Then, we ate soup with chicken feet in it. i will attach the picture. Then a dessert that is rice ha ha and then a feast at our last appointment. I am STILL full. ugh. So fun. We had to go in 7:30 pm because there are so many drunk people on Christmas so then me and my comp made a music video to David Archuleta. Best thing of my life.

Christmas was so great! Thank you family for everything. I wish everyone could see the huge smile i have on my face right now as my mom and lori are emailing me about Parker! haha that kid is the best!

i love you all, merry christmas enjoy your break!!

xoxo

sister curtis

CTR- Cook the Rice

Merry Christmas Family,

it is just barely starting to feel like Christmas here in the Philippines, because we just got snow! Just kidding. I wish.

This past week was so hard. We worked maybe a total of 4 hours due to my migraines, i had orders to rest. AND all i have been eating is salad cause my companion is a health freak and she put me on a cleanse. Ha i am skinny now :) no rice. i actually miss rice. i CRAVE rice! Funny right??? So me and my comp kind of went crazy sitting in our house all week, but it was fine! Thank you David Archuleta's Christmas CD! haha. but we are still alive.

yesterday, we had church and after the ysa and youth combined are preparing a musical number for next weeks sacrament meeting. two songs. well, my comp because she is so great, is the pianist so i just sit there and listen to these poor kids try and sing. well, their chorister will be out of town next week so they needed a new chorister. they all picked me. remember how i can't sing? but remember how my mom is Karen Curtis and she is like the best chorister ever? like mother like daughter. so pretty much me and my companion kept yelling at them and cheering them on and jumping up and down and going crazy. they sound SO much better :) then of course i put them into a good formation and told them, "always remember kids, if everything else fails we all still have our looks" they liked that! haha so funny.

after church we went to the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. SO good. Did anyone go to that last week? Or watch it? It was great!! I loved all three of our Prophets messages. About being good gift receivers, sharing the gift of the gospel, the spirit of Christmas, families, the Savior. I loved what President Monson said how we all get so "distracted" in this season with buying gifts, activities etc. But we should be the opposite. We should be focused on the Savior and His gift to all of us. I am so grateful for His wonderful gift to me. I love this time of year especially as a missionary, I get to share about Jesus Christ and all that He did for us.

We taught an English class for the first time, that was the hardest thing ever. English is the hardest language ever! I taught English in a different language. Cool right? but hopefully we can get more investigators from it and help these cute filippino's learn English and get them out of poverty! if they know English their chances of getting out of poverty are way higher. that's my goal. ha

I hope everyone remembers in their busy season Jesus Christ and His perfect gift to us! Enjoy the beautiful snow while I enjoy palm trees and coconuts :) I love you all!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

I have been saying that all day everyday. My comp keeps saying, "hey sister curtis, when is your birthday again?" Haha! I am SO EXCITED! Why? Because it is the only birthday in the Philippines, on my mission, in Asia, 22, as a missionary, etc. PLUS! Philippino's LOOOOVVVEEEE birthdays. As in, anytime of the year, every appointment they ask, "when is your birthday?" so finally i can say THIS WEEK! we have appointments like everyday. super excited. my waist line isn't but i am! haha

 

i got the best package from my mom! thanks mom for the jump rope, starting january i will start working out! haha i will bake the cake this week! i have to go somewhere to cook it, we had to think really hard somewhere and someone who had an oven. crazy right? we don't have ovens. but there is a way! at the richest member's house!

so we were at this less active's house and i asked the 24 year old boy where my birthday present was and he said "what do you want? a date? okay let's go on a date!" HAHA! he was dead serious. I was shocked. My companion was like.."uhh awkward because I would have to go with you." Then he was like, "ok ok both of you" WEEEEIRRRD. We are missionaries. Hellllo. But so funny. That's definately a first time I have been asked out on a date on my mission.

TRansfer day was maybe the best day of my life. I saw so many of all my mission friends! There are alot of new missionaries that came into our mission. I have been waiting for this transfer MY WHOLE MISSION! DECEMBER!!! I am soooo excited!! We have activities every single weeeeeek! I am so excited. Every day I tell my comp how excited i am. its so weird though I feel like there should be snow, but it's so hot every day still!

our new zone leaders bought me two cakes for my birthday for my zone!! so nice of them. then my zone sang me happy birthday like a million times. see, philippino's loveeee birthdays. our zone has 8 sisters. i repeat. 8!!! our opening song in district meeting was "as sisters in zion" so funny. I love my area still even though its SO HARD!! I really am trying to enjoy this transfer because I think i will train next transfer...nooooo. i don't waaaannnntttt to!!

 

I am so grateful for this mission! I am so grateful for the Philippines. It's such a wonderful place to serve!! I hope everyone has a happy last week of November, think of me on December 1st. Haha! ;)

 

love you all,

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Happy Thanksgiving from the Philippines

Hello!!

 

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving here, so I almost forgot we had it until all my emails said, happy thanksgiving! haha

CONGRATS TO MY SISTER AND BROTHER IN LAW KALLIE AND DAN AND THEIR NEW BUN IN THE OVEN!!!! i just know it will be a girl ;) i can't wait!!!! best news EVER!!!

 

wow. it honestly feels like it has been years since i have emailed all of you-maybe cause it has.

 

well i don't even know where to start first off, i am not transfering and either is my comp! yay, my first companion more than 1 transfer! i am not a troubled companion. We will still go to transfer day though because she is the musical number. i am SO nervous because hello i am the PAGE TURNER! i think i am more nervous than her. ha ha

 

i went to manilla out of my mission to go to st. luke's for my doctor appointments so that was cool and the highlight of my week and now i am on bedrest and am kind of going crazy. she got a bite on her leg and all the members told her its from a cockroach. listen to this, her whole ankle is bruised and swollen. its from a little tiny cock roach and its causing her so much pain!!! poor girl. i went to the bathroom last night and there were some in our bathroom. i tried so hard to kill them but they ran away. (yes i actually kill bugs now and not run away, proud of me?) so we are the poor companionship :( but me and my comp are having fun still! i love her!

 

we were so in "the world" the last week from in and out of the city and being in so much air conditioning and seeing so many white people and not working it was hard to re focus. we hated it! i just wanted so badly to go back to my little apartment and go work and serve my members and investigators. i love my calling so much as a missionary and kind of never want to be back in the real world! ;)

it was our branch president's birthday on sunday so we got invited over for dinner and he and his wife are suppper Americanized and super young. he speaks perfect english. so we told him since he is practically american we told where we are from if its your birthday you usually stand on the table and dance and people give you money. haha is that inappropriate? haha everyone just laughed at us.

our mission has moved to more finding. so we have been focusing more on tracting!! its so hard. but i love it. i love telling people i represent Jesus Christ. I know i won't be doing this for very long and know its such a wonderful calling. i hope everyone can find and help the Lord. i tell the members you don't need a name tag to be a missionary ;) always remember that.

i love you all. remember if its your birthday, get up on a table and dance. just kidding.

xoxo,

Sister Curtis

Happy Halloween From the Philippines!

Hello everyone,

we just had a halloween party in our district meeting, super fun.

 

things are going great here. me and my companion are having so much fun, all we do is laugh. we will be friends forever! i told her i will come to her homecoming and her wedding shower and baby shower ;) so yep. friends forever.

 

its super hot here. i hear its snowing there, i cant even believe that. suppper happy i am not in utah and its snowing! i would rather be here in the sun.

 

we met some really cool people they are our "barcada" that means like peeps, homies, or group of friends haha and they are kind of so cool. but living in sin. they are two couples all living together but one is less active and the other are really interested. well, we have been teaching them and last night we went over there to just say hi cause the less active CAME TO CHURCH! we were stunned. he hasnt come to church in yearrrrs people. well we ate dinner over there and laughed for like an hour straight. they just laugh at our tagalog. i am pretty sure if we were fluent in our tagalog we wouldn't be funny. but sad news is they are moving and so that was our last visit with our homies. my comp is hilarious. i wrote all the funny things in my journal. haha

 

yesterday, we went to our less active's house and my companion prepared me because he has cancer and two tumors in his neck so its really sad. i thought i would be fine. well we walk in and he is laying down (obviously they are very poor) and can barely speak, but excited to see us. we asked if we could just sing a hymn and leave a prayer because he isn't feeling well. we sand "the spirit of god" and then i asked who he wanted to give the prayer and he said me, so i started praying and just fell apart. i could not keep my tears in. i thought about my mother who battled breast cancer and how she was so "comfortable". people brought us food, we had enough money to pay for things, and the ward was so amazing to us and this poor man who's kids are acting like they don't care and his wife is yelling at him is in so much pain! i hate to see people in so much pain and i can't do anything. the whole time i was praying i thought about my mother. then i had the impression to share to them. we shared about faith, honestly that is all they have right now, is their faith. i just bawled and bawled through out the lesson. we got out and my thoughts were so mixed! i told my companion, "i know how he feels, well i don't know but my mom would tell us how she felt when she was going through all of that and its so hard" i can do any sickness, but cancer. that hits home.

things are going great here in Asia. i love you all and hope you all have a wonderful halloween!! stay safe.

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Hi Everyone!

 

i got on and had 26 emails. i feel really cool!

guess what everyone?? i got my hair done and it is normal! its dark brown. i felt super weird getting it done, like wasting my time. but oh well it needed it. i looked like a clown. but we just did a session in the temple and it was amazing and then tried to find our way back home through the big city. let's just say, my life is crazy in the philippines. one day you will see all my pictures and just think i am SO cool cause I am.

so my life got like 10X better than last week. every morning i told myself, if i can do this week i can do anything. and look! i did it. so i am good the rest of my mission. my comp is the best we just laugh all day. she is so good in tagalog it drives me crazy!! what the! why is she so good and i sucked so bad when i was that "young". oh well its the gift of the tongues i guess.

i bore my testimony in sacrament meeting because i am the new missionary, and i told everyone that i love their people and they are all so faithful and beautiful. then i got tears in my eyes because honestly its the coolest feeling to be up there looking out and seeing such faithful people. i just love them. i may not come home and stay in the philippines forever. okay?

this area is huge and hard. so i am exhausted every single day. i really don't know what to say!! i feel like nothing cool is happening. last week we had an FHE with this family and it was kind of the cutest thing EVER. i made them the week before get the "program" ready and told them if they got everything ready we would bring treats and coloring book pages (which parker sent me and i just photo copy them and its the GREATEST thing ever-thank you) and it was so cute. then we played games after and its not funny in english but me and my comp were laughing so hard at them. the two olders girls are my FAV they just hug me all the time and hold my hand. then last night this cute little girl had a make up kit so i did her make up for her. i told the family i only want 6 girls haha no boys and they all told me i am crazzzyyyy. haha

maybe next week i will have more to say. oh on sunday we had a dinner appointment and the branch president and his wife are super american and speak really great english but they made us a SALAD! i have not had salad in so long. i think i ate the whole thing. then me and my comp got really trunky cause she showed us her wedding pictures! haha so cute.

just know that i am doing great! i am trying to figure out this area and trying to do my best cause time is going too fast each day. i hope everyone is having spiritual experiences or praying for more of them. i am so grateful for this wonderful experience in my life. i wouldn't trade it for a thing :)

love you,

sister curtis

Life's Always Changing!

hello family!

I am getting transfered. We played a game where people had to act out people who were getting transfered and one of the elders put his hands on his hips and was all sassy and everyone yells, "CURRRTTTSSSS!" And then i cried. Honestly, I AM SHOCKED!!!

So we'll see where the Lord wants me to go.

SOOOO YESS! I heard the news of General Conference. I am shocked now that elders can go when they are 18 and girls at 19. All in All, I am super happy I went at 21. :) But President sent us all a text sunday morning and I can just imagine all the people who are applying. Yay for missionary work, no one can stop this! I am so happy I chose to serve a mission! Honestly, especially right now as it is on fire! ha

ahh i feel like i have so much to say my heart is like beating so fast. ha ha

I am jealous you all got to see general conference. i will watch it this week and really excited :)

so i kind of got the BESTTTT PACKAGE EVER for my half way mark. I can't believe it is here. i am growing up in my mission i cant believe it!! Thank you soo much for all of my "support" back at home! I loved the letters. I cried as i read them. Don't worry, sis. cope filmed it so you can see it soon ;) thank you karen scott for my cd and package! you are the best!! :) my mission is going too fast now. third area and 6th transfer tomorrow. can't believe it. I love it. I love it!! I realized i am in the middle of my mission. ITS THE BEST PLACE TO BE. Co-senior companions, just having fun, no stress ;) i need to enjoy this time. I remember Pres. Uchtdorf's talk in July about how we are all in the middle. No matter how old we are. I love being in the middle of my mission!

i realized i am in the best place for a mission. Why? because nothing is illegal here!! haha we can do anything and there are no laws. So fun!! I wouldn't change coming to the philippines for anything!!

I can't believe i am half way. I love my mission so much. I love this Gospel and these people and the philippines and my Savior and everything else :) I am so grateful for my life. My president wrote me and said, "sister curtis relax and enjoy the ride" so another change, another adventure (right dad) love you all

God Speed,
xoxo
sister curtis

Hello Family,

This week was super fast. We had zone conference on thursday. Got up at 4 am and didn't get back til 6 pm. Then went out and worked from 630-9 pm. You have no time on a mission for anything. My voice has been gone this whole transfer. I think it is telling me I am exhausted but it's okay. I sound like a boy but whatever. At zone conference, president told us we have a million sisters coming in from oct-feb so he looked straight at me and said "get ready to train" uhh. Shoot.

One thing i loved what President said a couple of months ago was, "The Lord knows your time table" so true. I keep telling myself. When the Lord wants me to be fluent in Tagalog, I will be. Anyway, next week is transfers. So crazy. I love this area so I don't want to leave, but whatever happens, happens! I kind of hate how i dont know what is going to happen or if i will ever see these people again! :(

Saturday we had "family day" it was the whole stake and we got to go for 2 hours. from the minute i walked into the stake center i was so overwhelmed. Only in the Philippines you walk into the church and music is blasting and there are so many people, food and craziness. ALLLLLL I wanted to do was dance. Everyone was dancing. (so i did a little with our investigators kids, of course the little girls) Our whole zone was there so i told my zone leaders "i am going to dance because it doesnt say you cant in the white handbook" ha ha.

We have the most amazing investigator Laarnie and we just extended a bap date for her and she said YESSS so fast like she didnt even let us finish our question haha. I love her! her baptism is set for November 3. I hope i am still here.

We had a baptism on Saturday for our investigator Ellen. She is the BESSSTTT! I have taught her from the beginning to the end so it was special. I love her so much! Let's face it, I love all these people!

Funny story, at the baptism while she was getting re-dressed i was the chorister and we just sang songs til she came back in and my mind was completely off of singing and the song was done and oh don't worry i started singing the 3 line again. and everyone just laughed. i pretty much started singing a solo until my mind came back and i realized i was the only one singing. sheesh! haha

That is exciting gma and gpa (lolo & lola) are moving to hawaii, kind of jealous :) but that is so fun! how are my favorite niece and nephew? is anyone pregnant? ;) people can get pregnant now, because i only have 9 months left:) so get to it people!! hope everything else in the family is going great!

We have a solid week of no activities, just work. so i am excited to get back into the work for the last week of the transfer. i have loved this transfer it has been fun! I love this work. I love the beautiful people of the Philippines. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve in such a wonderful country. These people love Jesus Christ and I love being a representative of Him. I love bearing my testimony a million times a day. The spirit is so thick as a missionary I love it. I could go on and on about how much I love my mission, but i don't have enough time :)

I love you all,

xoxo

Sister Curtis

September 24, 2012

i dont know where september went. its crazy right?

this will be short cause nothing really happened this week. 

oh except we ran into our drunk less active this week. i just wanted to cry. i have never really been around drunk people except for my mission. Ha. i am innocent. but her poor kids had to babysit her and ugh. so annoying. alcohol is the worst. people dont understand they can have a great life and have fun with out alcohol. its one of the tools satan uses to destroy people and family. i hate it. 

oh and we were stuck with a married couple who were fighting back and forth and me and my comp just sat there stunned. my comp goes "well i think we should pray" haha then i prayed in english begging Heavenly Father to help these two people. I prayed in english so they couldn't understand me. he he. i will never be a marriage counselor in my whole life.

we had temple tour (where we take out investigators to the temple grounds and give them tours) and it was so great. i am so blessed in my mission because each temple tour you see your old members/investigators/less actives at temple tour!!! so i saw so many people from cogeo. and guess what? I COULD UNDERSTAND THEM! they all were telling me they were so happy for me that i can speak tagalog now! yay! it was the first temple tour where i actually understood all the missionaries and their jokes and stuff. anyone proud of me? i still am no where near fluent but its coming people! unti-unti! 

this week will be fun. i am excited. we are going through the temple with the old man that is a ward missionary. Tatay Anselmo. He is 80 years old and is completely loosing it. but i love him! I have so many funny videos of him on my camera i will show you all one day. you will love him. I dont think he will ever die. people, he works with us all day every day. he has a p-day too. mondays. he is awesome! that's on wednesday, i am so excited!! 

i got the best package earlier from parker. and the best letters from all of you!! i loved opening the letter from my mom and money dropping out. ha ha its been a while since i have seen american money. i hope elder curtis is doing well in the mtc and bryce and abby feel better!! i love you all so much and love my mission. i love this gospel so much. everyday i realize more and more the plan my Heavenly Father has for me. i am grateful for my strong family that i have had my whole life and for their support. i am so happy in my life. even though my birthday is in two months and i will 22 and that is SO OLD!!!!!!! uh.

love you all,

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Pictures From the Mission!

 Shelby loved this cute cupcake girl; oh, by the way, Shelby loves cupcakes too!

 Their milk comes in a box and is not cold!

 A senior couple from America made their district pancakes! Shelby looks pretty happy about it!

 The rice fields of the Philippines!

 Shelby wants to bring them all home with her!

 Shelby LOVES the Philippine children!

 Just a normal Philippine neighborhood.

 Outside the temple; Shelby's favorite place to be!

 Stuck in the rain!

 Shelby inside the temple with a recent convert.

 Whenever there's an air conditioner, Shelby sticks her head in it!

 There's no stopping Sister Curtis! She'll try to convert anyone!

Shelby made everyone cookies!

I Love to See the Temple!

Sorry so late, the ap's came to our district meeting and after games we all went and ate! so fun.

this week was hard. like lately i have just been exhausted so this week i need to re focus myself for the work. its hard when my companion asks me trunky questions all day every day it makes me trunky! haha 

so the highlight of this week was we got to go through the temple with one of my companion's old recent converts. it has been a year so she was able to go through and we got invited! we were so excited to get on a jeepney and have an adventure going to the city. two white girls making our way through the city. good thing i know Tagalog or it would of been impossible. but it was great!! it's amazing, because that is why i am here, to get people to make covenants. first baptism, then going to the temple. i love it! i saw an old family from my old area Cogeo, that was getting SEALED! so amazing! so happy Heavenly Father made those two on the same day so i could see them. I wasn't too close with them, but still excited!! AND GUESS WHAT? i saw my old companion sister Segovia the one i just had at the temple. she was just doing a sessions (i week after she went home ha ha she misses missionary life) and it was so good to see her. i had like tears in my eyes we were so excited to see each other. she didn't have a name tag.i never want that to be me! ill send the pic

THENNNNNNN, on the way home, we got off in a city before my area to eat dinner and got stuck in that city for 3 HOURS!!!! i sat in the rain, hollering down jeepneys (like they do in new york ha) for 3 hours and each time i looked back at my companion she was talking to a different person each time about the Gospel. HA! (if my dad knew i was in the Philippines late at night outside of a bar talking to random people-he would die ;) ) but the thing is, people are so nice here. and we are protected. we were about to call the ap's to come get us when our nice district leader calls and i am like basically crying to him and then the senior couples came and got us! but it was a good night!! 

we have a new investigator La Arnie. Her husband is abroad in China working, so they only see each other two weeks a year!! that is how EVERYONE here is. So Abby, count your blessings. But her husband is a member and active there and she said she wasn't ready for the gospel but now is. she is amazing. we showed her the Joseph smith movie and i think because she is so amazing Satan did not want our visit to go well. we had so many distractions, and then on top of everything my DVD was scratched! but at the end we both just bore short and powerful testimonies of Joseph Smith and the spirit came back in. i love her! she has a little girl and i just play with her each time we visit. 

we have a baptism next week. Ellen, she is 19 and is sooo smart. We had to move her baptism date due to some coffee word of wisdom problems, but in relief society she bore her testimony about how being off coffee has helped grow her testimony and come closer to Jesus. Amazing right? 

i hope everyone is doing great. i got so many emails one day i will write all of you. mom sent me some of her spiritual experiences, i loved that! i love hearing about them. the new temple is so beautiful in Brigham city!! i want to go there! Bryce looked so cute at homecoming.you are too cute bryceeman! your date is gorgeous! is she blind? JOKE! love you all. cool new car dad ;)

xoxo

Sister Curtis

Wake Me Up When September Ends!

hello family i love you guys so much.

i had a really good week. me and my companion are doing good. she is a goofball but fun. we just laugh every day. we are kind of Dora the explorer each day too cause this area is big and hard but its all good.

 i got my first migraine on Wednesday. i didn't feel too good when i woke up but kept going and we got into a lesson and came out side and the light killed my head but i was fine. then within like twenty minutes my comp was like "you don't feel good do you" so she did the lesson and then on the tricycle ride home i just cried cause that's what us Curtis girls do when we are sick. we cry. ha then i slept from 3 to 8. and getting little headaches now, but its okay!! ibuprofen is my best friend. ha 

happy birthday to the cutest little 3 year old Olivea! i miss you so much Livy and cant believe you are 3!!!! i remember the day you were born. the longest day of my life. who cares about Abby like basically dying for ever and giving birth, that day took forever. butttttt now we have the cutest little girl!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! can't wait for your new little sister who is coming soon! congrats abb! just kidding. i wish. 

i feel like my mind is blank. what else happened?

really excited for general conference. i think every missionary just loves gen. conference on their mission. we are getting our investigators and less actives ready for it and it makes me excited. being in the presence of an apostle a couple of weeks ago i really have a testimony that we have the right authority on the earth today, and we have the truth, and the true church. i love being able to tell that to people and share my testimony. i love becoming closer to my Heavenly Father and developing a strong relationship with the spirit. this has been such a blessing in my life. i love the Philippine's and these people! i hope every one can have missionary experiences in their lives. love you all.

send some of the fall breeze here! we need it! like i cant imagine how you guys don't sweat all day..that blows my mind. honestly. 

xoxo

Sister Curtis 

p.s. i love the quote elder Brevard shared about faith. elder Bednar talked about faith and how we must be agents not objects. we must act on our faith and become agents of faith. he talked about how Joseph smith acted on his faith when he went to the grove to pray. Joseph smith not only asked "what church is true" but "what is to be done"  i love that.

Elder Bednar, 2 American's & Krispy Kremes

Sorry i am a day late. We had temple p-day today. guess what time i woke up? 3:15 AM! that is not a joke. i fell asleep in the temple and the sister next to me had to wake me up, then she fell asleep and i had to wake her up. horrible. my whole zone made fun of me that i fell asleep..DUHHHH if they didn't make me get up so stinking early i wouldn't have! haha

 

i may fall asleep when as i write this. oh wait i can't cause 1,000 philippino 12 year olds are blasting music in this tiny computer shop playing computer games. sweet. 

so guess what? Elder Bednar came to our mission. I was second row. He was amazing. It was like a workshop. He looks old though, but definitely my favorite apostle. One day when i come home i will tell you all about it. But one thing he said was (as we had an open question and answer session with him) "the most important thing i did to prepare to become one of Jesus Christ's Apostles was getting married and creating a happy marriage" he said you have to create a happy marriage and it doesn't just come with getting married. Then he said, "now no one get trunky" ha so awesome. He is AWESOME! 

I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Cope. From MARYLAND. She is American. I knew I was getting an American. So, i have a lot of responsibility leading this area, getting my Tagalog and dealing with an American. She is great and a hard worker. But I WANT A PHILIPPINA! I don't like American's. Ha. It is a hard adjustment. Oh well. sister Curtis change your attitude.

We just got back from MEGAL MALL. I kind of have the biggest head ache ever. it is the most hugest mall i have ever been in. And i think i might have spent all my money. ha! BUTTTT I got krispy kremes! yummmmmy! my companion got a crepe. Good thing she likes food as much as me! 

TRANSFER DAY! So every transfer day we have the exiting missionaries (the missionaries who go home in six weeks) bear their testimonies of their mission. Remember my old companion sister Dela Calsda? She is going home Oct 11 and so she bore her testimony. Well, she got up and spoke a lot about all the great things she learned on her mission..then she got all teary eyed and went silent and talked about ME! WHAT THE!!!!!! She was like, "last transfer i was with sister Curtis and she taught me so much and i am so grateful for her" stuff like that. She was crying. EVERYONE LOOKED AT ME! It was so embarrassing. in front of the whole mission. Ha but how sweet?? SO happy she doesn't hate me! I was like grabbing sister Weller's hand squeezing it because i was hoping she wouldn't say "i hated her blah blah blah" ha! so cute right? I went up to her after and gave her a big hug! so cute. 

people listen! 5 people in my zone got transferred to MINDORO!!!! the island in our mission where they don't even have running water i guess. Sister Weller went to Mindoro! her face when they called her was so shocked!! then a couple others. Everyone who is in this zone Morong, has either gone to Mindoro or went there last week. I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE!! i tell president Delamare every time i see him, "president i will die in Mindoro please don't send me there" and he tells me its up to God. I will DIEEEEEEEEE. pray i don't get called their! pray hard!

sorry these are so long. my life is just really exciting and cool right now ya know? i love missionary work so much. i can say it now...I LOVE MY MISSION. it only took 7 months for me to say that. Bryce read that. it took 7 months to love it. but its possible! we are working a lot with the "upper and middle classes" and not so much the really really poor people in the Philippine's so we can get some good leadership in the Philippines and help establish the church. does that make sense? but its hard cause rich people don't let you in. people with dirt floors and no money will let you in! SO WE ARE TRACTING!! guys. i hate tracting. so scary. Parker how do you do that everyday? its so hard, but its great! keep the faith.

i love you all and can't wait to see you soon. cause its Christmas. well at least in the Philippines. Christmas starts in September. we sing Christmas hymns already. duh. who cares i love it! love you all more though.

xoxo

sister Curtis

She's Been Out 7 Months!!!

 

Zone Interviews

 

 

 

 

our church got CARPET!!!!!! i havent felt carpet in so long so we all sat on the floor for our district meeting with no shoes of course!!

 

 

 

 

Im sorry parker. I have to wear these ugly things to protect my legs!!!!! so ooooo ugly. sister weller made fun of me!

 

 

 

My dinner: Fresh Banana Shake on the right!

 

Our zone

 

 

 I got my first pedicure and during our district meeting I got up and showed everyone my new pedicure. Thats my district leader! haha he took a pic of it and sent it to his mom and said "this sister got up in the middle of my workshop to show us her pedicure" haha yessss love it.

 

Mother's Note: I love the pedicure picture. It's great to know that Shelby is STILL Shelby!



 



Transfer Announceme​nts

Today in our district meeting was transfer announcements.Oh but i am staying, of course. i get my new comp tomorrow. Each companion in our zone is leaving!!! SO SAD. I have loved our zone and now its going to be completely different. Two elders are training american's it will be so fun cause they will be so STUNNED like i was! ha

I made no bake cookies for our whole zone they loved them and were gone in like 3 seconds. Sis. wells & suarez made fruit cocktail too. We partied. That is why you have sister missionaries in missions, or else no one would eat!

My companion left us last night. I slept alone!!!!! SO WEIRD!!! I was scared and prayed alone and woke up alone and I hated it. The first night i get home mom you are sleeping with me! haha but she was fine. One of the senior couples assigned in our zone made us TACO SOUP!!! So we all ate the last supper, it was so fun. Sister Jensen the senior couple reminds me sooooo much of Lori Brevard. Like i just want to hug her all the time cause they are the same person.

one day we were walking to our investigator's house and asked a tric driver if he was there (everyone knows everyone and where they are so awesome) so i was just like not paying attention as my companion asked and then she looks at me and says, "he dead" haha just like that. I WAS SHOCKED. Our investigator died!!! Then we hopped on and he took us to their house where they were partying cause that is just the culture here. Come to find out he died in his sleep (they said a dream but philippino's have SO many weird supersicious beliefs it drives me crazy) but he died of a heartattack. He was 26 had 7 girlfriends, as in 7 girlfriends and one kid. He is better up there repenting i think. But hey, he listened to our message once so he will be okay i think ;) so sad.

we have this old member in our ward who is a recent convert. he is 80 years old but thinks he is 20. he is a ward mission leader and works with us EVERY day ALL day. he has a CRAZY backround and i just love the guy!! you call every old guy here Tatay so that is his name. i will send you pics of his outfits! ha he looks 12. he just recently died his hair because his gay friend told him too. i just looked at him and said, WHY? never again tay!!! but he is the best. he has no teeth and i cant understand one thing he says but whatev.

my favorite family in this branch made us american food the other day.. BLT's on bagels. so good!! i havent had a bagel since the mtc when i ate like 4 every breakfast. ha but then we had a MILLION dinner and lunch appointments cause my comp left. So i am getting FAT!

two members different times told me i am "glowing". sweet right? but i think i am. everyone tells me i look happy. i am so happy! i love my mission and this time i have. i have an amazing family, support system, friends, i am so lucky! why wouldn't i be glowing?

i am excited to hear the wonderful words of Elder Bednar on Friday! I will write all about it next week. I will email monday! love you all soooo much!!

xoxox
Sister Curtis

I COOKED!!!

Yes. I cooked. without an oven, crock pot or microwave. SUCCESS!! I cooked eggplant. who knew eggplant was a vegatable not just Kallie's wedding color. HA. it was so good. THEN I cooked a rice topping that was yummy and creamy. and i learned how to like cut vegies and stuff. WHAT THE! Thank you mission. its honestly saving my life. haha me and sis wells made no bake cookies and i kind of wanted to cry because they tasted so good!!

this week was so good. so fast. sheesh. next week is transfer day. What the. in church i just laid my head on my comp telling her don't leave me. its so sad. she is going home. but i think she is in denial. she always tells me "its far sister curtis" umm no its not sister segovs! its days away. but it doesn't make me want to come home at all. I am loving it here. the floods are still crazy i guess. who knows i am isolated in this area and have no idea whats going on. the senior couples in our branch update us on normal life. but i can't remember anything. yes mom about the new borne movie! don't worry thats what EVERYONE talks about here. its in the city of marikina. PART OF MY MISSION! they filmed it there because its suuupppeeerrr busy there. but yeah thats what my mission looks like i guess. haven't seen the movie but every philippino is so proud! ha maybe i will be assigned there. hope not. i'd rather be in province forever.

about living here. now do you realize how hard it was for me the first week? but now it just seems normal. its hard to live here but i love it so its fine. seriously, every weird thing just seems normal.

example: one day we were sitting on a jeepney going to a really far part of our area and there was so much construction. i literally saw (this is not a joke) a guy who was like 25 or so "wasting" on the sidewalk. as in going to the bathroom, but not standing up peeing. yes it was normal. people walked by and didn't even care. and its just normal. i told my zone and they all just shrugged it off. like that. that happens in the states right? hahahaha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN!!!!!!!!!  i miss and love you! i can't believe you are 2 years old!!!

this week we have zone interviews. i am excited, the pres and ap's come to our church with our zone and we all bring rice toppings and pres interviews us and then usually sister delamare works with a sister couple. i think she may work with us since my comp is going home. its fine! what else. i can't remember.

OHHHH. okay so we did a service project for this investigator. she lives in a tree. like her house is connected to a tree with wood and like nothing else. so sad. she has dirt floors and she lives in dirt. so we told her we would help her wash her clothes. by hand of course. these philippina women do all the laundry of the family. the kids don't help. thats just not the culture. if they get in trouble which is never cause their is no discipline here then that's what they do but we only did this women's children's clothing and only washed them and it took us 3 hours and their were TWO of us. my hands started hurting really bad, but i kept doing it. i just felt so good the whole time. my comp was telling me aobut her mom and how her hands would bleed but she would keep going. 5 minutes later my hands started bleeding. the tops of my fingers were red and stinging really bad. when we were done, and went home i realized how bad they were. AH! i laid in my bed that night crying cause they hurt so bad. i wore band aids on each finger for four days!! now they are a little better but i couldn't do anything sheesh with out hands. i was the chorister in relief society and everyone gasped when they saw my hands! i will show you in pictures next week! be grateful you don't have to do that!!

well i think that's it for now! i love you all. i am having such an incredible time here on my mission. i love it. just so everyone knows some missionaries in our zone just played "spoons" the card game but we played it with our name tags, and i won. thank you.
the church is true. love you all!

xo,
Sister Curtis 

Flooding All Day and All Night

sorry so late, we just got back from the temple and mall! its 6:15 pm here! uhhhhh i haven't had an all day p-day this whole transfer. thats why i am so exhausted i think through out the week. we had a zone fast yesterday lunch to today lunch. it was good to fast and be in the temple. but i got dehydrated i think so i got sick towards the end and like all shaky but its okay. then i ate and drank lots of water and i was fine. we pigged (is that a word?) out at pizza hut after. about P5,000 worth. one kid bought all our pizza? what the? no one knows why but we did not complain. i think thats like $100 plus in dollars. anyway i sent pics.

So our whole mission had floods. but don't worry not my area! most of the mission had to evacuate and did service all week. but not us! YAY! we had to pack a bag for 2 days just in case. but i didn't. ha i was like..i am not leaving! haha our zone leaders maybe texted us every minute seeing if we were okay. i bought these REALLY nice "ugliest things of my whole life boots that i cant believe i am even telling you about" for the flooding. but everyone is safe and good now. it mostly happened in the city. thank good ness i am in the boon docks and no floods!!

we had a cool experience. we were in the mountain area of our area and my comp felt like we needed to buy food for our less active who literally lives in no house. he is so unhealthy skinny and has a son and they never have food. so we bought them like P100 worth of food which is like $2 i think, anyway and went to go give it to them. his son was asleep when we got there (his house doesn't even have walls) and the dad wasn't there. so we just put the food on the little bench table thing and when we started to leave we saw the dad and he was coming back from fishing (with a wood stick-thats it) and his cage was EMPTY. we asked him if he got any and he said no. my heart sank..him and his son were not going to eat that night. AH! so then we had huge smilies on our faces and just said bye to him and hid in the bushes til he saw the food. it was like christmas day to see him go over to the bag and see all their food. i just love these people and hate how God's children live like this. everyday honestly is a day of humility & gratefulness can't think of the word in english.


i am loving my companion still. she goes home in 3 weeks. ya what its been 3 weeks of this transfer. ya what school starts soon. ya what its almost september. doesn't seem real. i feel completely out of the world. who knew olympics was going on and stuff? mom send me some worldly news, all the missionaries in my zone always go crazy when we hear home stuff it makes us still feel like normal people.


did i mention elder bednar is coming to my mission august 31? did i? well if i didn't, ELDER BEDNAR IS COMING TO SPEAK TO MY MISSION. ya so cool. i am SO excited. he has asked us to be prepared about questions and read some talks about faith i will send them to you they are kind of amazing!


thats it, have a good week everyone! bryce good job on the missionary experience at work. didn't know those existed in utah! love it. keep going.
xoxo
Sister Shelby Curtis

august? whaaaaat

hello po!

how is it going? my week was good. full of 4 scared sisters in one scary house. so lots of priesthood blessings from our zone leaders, prayers, and lots of laughs about what happened to us. i wrote every detail down in my journal and i told sister weller the cute american companion i am going to tell everyone about it at cheesecake factory one day when i get home! hahaha. it was fast sunday when i told her that. ha

i am doing really good! just got back from playing philippino games in the pouring rain with some of our zone so fun! philippino games are so fun-then you put in some american intense elders and it gets crazy cause philippino's are not competitive. ha anyway, so fun. then we all went to jollybee. so gross! oh well so fun. so i am soaking right now cold in this computer shop.

we got these senior couples in our area now and they are super young cause they want to do 5 missions so they decided to start now. so they are as young as my parents..ya i just said young. anyway, theyyy areeeee crrraaazzzzy. SO awesome!!! they work with us sometimes so one day after they worked with us they took us out to eat (free FOOD) and we saw some foreigners) they looked like action heros. they had muscles and were like over 5 feet tall and i told the senior couple, why are they so big? and then said, sister curtis you have been in the philippines looking at tiny men for too long. they are normal looking! good news for you dad..you will look so muscly when i get home ;)

mom i love the cards you send me. i open them up like grandpa opens his cards up to see if there is ever cash in it. and then i get really disappointed! haha but i still love them ;) i have gotten every letter and package i am pretty sure. yay for safe mail.

i fasted saturday lunch-sunday lunch. 24 hours. first time in my life i have ever fasted for that long i know that is bad but it was such a spiritual experience. i prayed really hard i would have strength to climb mountains literally, ha with no food or water and it totally worked. fasting was super effective for our work and we had so many less active families come to church yesterday!! we were soo happy. fasting seriously is so great. i love the constant testimonies i am getting through out my mission.


our work is going really great! i am loving this area. we have this investigator who is literally chosen by God. ha honestly. we gave her the commitment to read the plan of salvation pamphlet so we could talk about it next visit. so we asked her if she read it and what she learned or understood and she explained the whole plan for us. honestly i couldnt understand her but she just kept talking and talking and then my comp goes..Exacto and then i knew..whoa. she's right! haha but yeah she's amazing.

what else. this is super long sorry i think i will start doing mass emails every week..do people care about what i have to say anymore? i remember geting mass emails from people and i just deleted them! haha anyway! love you all soooo much. have a wonderful last couple of weeks of summer. what the! where did your summer go? fastest summer of my life. love you all!!

xoxo
grandma and grandpa write me! & bryce.

Shelby

Scary Experience

Hello,

i am emailing you all so late. but there is a reason. a couple of days ago one of my roommates had a crazy experience with satan with her less active member. we all were really scared about it and earlier after district meeting, the zone leaders and us sisters went to this house to cast out all the bad spirits. people, i did not believe in this stuff before and thought these people were crazy. i can't really talk much about it but it was honestly the craziest experience i have ever been apart of. we are all shaking and stunned still. everything is fine now, but the adversary is real. i didn't believe in it but i do now. but i believe ten times more in the power of the priesthood. if i have any advice to the men in my life it is so always be worthy. if these awesome zone leaders were not worthy we couldn't have just had a miracle. one day i will tell you all about it. i am honestly so grateful for the priesthood in my life and the true church.

anyway, so this week was great. another great week! loving my new companion, and roommates so much. i live with an american and all we do is laugh. I am remembering things that are funny in english and how funny I AM! ha ha its the best. bryce i explained to her about coach whats his name, the youtube and how we would laugh so hard all the time at those and we laughed for so long as i was explaining him and the way he kicks his leg! haha

so in a lesson i was explaining the gospel of jesus christ of course in tagalog and instead of saying, after baptism we recieve the gift of the holy ghost, i said we recieve the gift of tongues. hmmm think i have prayed for that gift like EVERY SINGLE DAY! haha so funny. they are kind of the same right?

I had a "i want to be a missionary forever experience". one night we went to our last appointment Joann and she is a member, active but her husband isn't. she always wants the missionaries over cause she loves the spirit they have, but her husband is always gone so they haven't been there for a while. so something just told us to go there. so we knock on her door and she started bawling. she said literally, 5 seconds before we knocked (well you don't knock on people's door here, you said people! really loud haha) she was so depressed and said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father if He loved her, and if He did then why don't the missionaries come? Isn't that cool. I love helping people so much!

so my new area is the most peaceful place. i thought i would be in the city my whole mission but i see like RICE FIELDS and mountains and beautiful green land all day its amazing!!

we had district conference yesterday & saturday our area is only a branch and district so anyway, pres & sis delamare came my mission president and it was so great to be with them for 2 days and here them talk! those people are so great and spiritual and even though they speak in english everyone in the room receives the gift of tongues and can understand. honestly, its so cool how fast and strong they can bring the spirit in.

yesterday i taught a lesson, and prayed so hard for the gift of tongues and i UNDERSTOOD everything!! i walked out of it and was like..WAIT! i could understand! hahaha i told my companion and she said that she could tell i understood! YES! we are moving along people-we are  making some progress!

i love all of you! sorry my life is busy and i have no time ever. sorry i am such a hardworker and all we do is work. haha sorry im so humble. our district leader sends us texts every day and tells us how amazing we are cause we are all working so hard, its a great feeling!!

love you all!!
Sister Curtis

second area

hello po!
this has to be fast.
love my new companion, she is so hard working and fun. she actually talks to me and laughs not like my old comp. she is going home in 6 weeks so then i will get a new comp AGAIN and lead the area. pray for me. i will have 5 comps in 5 transfers i told myself i wanted a new comp every transfer and its worked! my new area is boon docks. as in nothing but mud, mountains, bugs, and rain. its cold here! like i am COLD!!!! its probably like 90 but its freezing. i love it! i wake up every night shaking! our area is the farthest away from the mission home. to go to zone interviews we have to wake up at 3 and leave at 4! its only 30 miles, HA but so much traffic! crazy righttt???

our new area is just a district and branch..so small. the people are great. i am realizing every where you go the work is the same, and the people are the greatest! i love missionary work. my comp doesnt really speak english that well, and really wants to learn so we are helping each other. she is so warm and makes me feel so good! she is so happy all the time so its great!

love my roommates. yay an american! ALL we talk about is food. we just cry about how we cant go to olive garden and cheesecake factory and have to eat rice each day. i am eating a lot better. the wall with rice is comping down slowly. they cook good food!

today we are going to the mall in the big city! i hear their is a krispy kreme's so i am going to bring some home for my roommates!! hopefully eat some good food at the mall.

i absolutely love my new zone! a lot of americans and they are all my batch going home.

this week we have temple tour and our zone is hosting so we are the tour guides, my comp wanted to be the tour guide of the "celestrial marriage" part. Haha so fun! i am excited.

i can't remember really anything else, my mind is so crazy right now cause i am trying to hurry everything! i love you all so much! next week will be better!

i love my mission and these experiences i am having. i am realizing more and more of the atonement of jesus christ and how much we need it. i am so grateful for the atonement and through it we can all return to our heavenly father!

alam ko po na yung pagpapayad-sala ni jesus christ ay totoo at sa pamamagitan ng pagpapapyad-sala puwede po tayo makapagbalik sa ating ama sa langit! love you all!!
xoxo
sister curtis

I'm getting transfered​..

I am GETTING TRANSFERED!! AHHHH
Today in district meeting, our zone leaders told us and I am shocked. Honestly, I didn't think it would happen but its all good! I am excited to see the mission. I hear once you are out of your first area it gets easier. Let's hope so. OH MY GOSH I can't believe it. Tomorrow at 530 am we are all leaving to head to the chapel for transfer day. its crazy. i have to pack uhhhhh. anyway, it will be cool! 4 companions in 4 transfers.
this email will be short cause i will email on monday. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAL!!!! I love you!!! I hope your husband spends a lot of money on you :)
So everything has been really good lately. It was my comp's birthday yesterday so we celebrated and had a ward FHE in the mountain of our area. SO FUN! Philippino people are so fun. 
BIG NEWS: On tuesday, i boiled water for the first time for my shower!!!! I CRIED IN THE SHOWER CAUSE IT FELT SO NICE AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH
seriously. i told my kabahay's "i loved that, as tears are running down my face" i think it made me superrrr homesick. I kind of cant believe my whole life I have had hot showers.
Cute story. I hope parker doesn't get mad at me for saying this. So ever since I have met parker he always would blink really hard at me. He told me his dad used to do that to his mom and it means "i love you" so parker constantly does it. I love it. So one day we were at a cute newlywed's house for dinner and i blinked really hard at her for something i can't remember and i told her it means i love you. Well last night at our FHE she told me her and her husband do that now. They go to the temple every week (because they are trying to have babies and go to the temple for blessings ;)) and during the temple they will look at each other and blink and say i love you. HOW CUTE? They just got married in May and i love them! SO Cute right?? Parker don't get mad at me for spreading that tradition!
thats it i will email monday! LOVE YOU!!
xoxo
Sister Curtis

happy 6 months to me

its come. the first 6 months. i kind of can't believe it and i will stop counting after tomorrow but i am so excited! and happy year mark to parkerman. kind of can't believe he has been out for a year!! sheesh. its all so exciting. i'm so excited that i am going to treat myself to pizza. well mom and dad you are ;) congrats on my dad's new calling in a byu ward so awesome! so scary about the fires..please be safe. i have gotten all the wonderful emails with so much love and support thank you so much everyone! i love all of you.
so this week was really good. this month i am focusing a lot and it helps! so i want everyone to know how happy i am. honestly, last night i was laying in my bed and tears ran down my face as i was thinking about all the great people i get to serve each day. i am so happy as a missionary. even though it is so hard, its so happy.
so okay this is the cutest story ever: one day me and my comp were talking to a member on the street that we saw and these two cute little girls who were in cute little uniforms came up to me and started talking to me. it was so cute! they are the cutest girls ever! they asked me about america and my name and all that stuff and then one girl asked me in tagalog, "before we go can we give you a kiss?" umm SO CUTE RIGHT? pretty sure that is illegal in america for missionaries but not in the philippines. they gave me a kiss on my cheek. ever since that day i have been praying for those girls i don't know why i just love them. then me and my comp were walking down the street and i hear "atay atay..atay sister" atay is older sister in tagalog and i look and it was THOSE girls riding on the back of a tricycle waving so hard. i was sooo excited!! i love them. anyway so cute right?
just barely, we went to the temple. so great. me and my comp are now at the mall but on the way here we rode in a taxi and my comp rode in the front seat and she is so cute and talking to the driver about how families can be together for ever and our purpose and i am singing my guts out in the back because i love music and i was like, no one can see me sing its ok. oh my gosh. i am the worsttttttt. but my comp is the best.
next week is transfers. the 19. i'm so scared cause i think i may get transfered. but i would love to stay with my comp for one more transfer and in this area. even though i climb a mountain everyday and i want to cry!!!! but i am so scared to get transfered! anyway, love you all so much. as in, like so much i love you. i miss you too. be safe and have a good summer!!
xoxo
sister curtis

I'm proud to be an American

happy 4th of july!

this was another hard week. monday after i emailed and got out all my frustrations ha ha we went to a FHE with a family that i just love. Both of the parents are RM's and we had a lesson, played games and then ate. Before we left, they both bore their testimonies of how their mission shaped their lives and how grateful they were for it to prepare them for their next mission. life. They asked me to bear my testimony about my mission and i just poured out my testimony of this great experience. Even though I was struggling so bad that day, Heavenly Father needed to let me see the blessings in my life. So i bore my testimony of my mission. Since that day, everyday i've born my testimony of my mission. Either someone asked me to, or that was the topic of the lesson. Isn't that cool? Heavenly Father knew I needed to count my blessings. I have really come to know that Heavenly Father knows us individually and knows us way better than we know ourselves. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He's my best friend on my mission.

A couple of days ago, we went to a Recent Converts house. She was baptized in April and I just love her. I honestly think I came to the Philippines for her. She was struggling so bad that day so we went inside and she just cried to her. She has a hard home life and she is living with her aunt and her family arent members. She is 19 and has no job, school or money. I just sat on the ground with her holding her and just cried with her. I told her we are her sisters and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew she was struggling and sent us to her. I just rubbed her hair and scratched her back while she cried like my mom would do to me! I hate how these people i love struggle so bad and I cant do anything. That night I forgot all about my problems and realized I needed to be more grateful. Its cool when you think you are having it hard, then you focus on other people and your struggles become less serious. I love that about missionary work.

Another sad story, one of my favorite less active's Pam, her baby who is only 4 months is so sick. and getting medical help is sooo expensive. well because our area split into 2 she is in my old area, and one day my comp was sick and i did not want to sleep all day so i went on exchanges and worked in that area. I loved it! we went to Pam and she just cried to us about all the trials in her life. I just cried with her and knew i was there for a reason. see, again Heavenly Father is trying to make me count my blessings. I cant even imagine the kind of stress she is under with no money, a baby sick, and her husband is away at work for months at a time. she has no one. We taught her that Heavenly Father is mindful of her and He loves her. I taught the lesson in english cause she can understand hallelujah. But i just feel so bad for her. These people here are so strong though with all their problems.  

have a good week everyone. next week i will be in the temple, I am SO excited. I love love love the temple. I kind of cant believe i have driven past a temple all my life everyday and never really noticed how lucky i was! We are so blessed to live in utah!

take care,
sister curtis

This is Hard

hey everyone,
sister curtis here. i really dont have a lot to say so its going to be really random.
so sometimes i can understand people, like people will speak tagalog to me (you know that crazy language) and i can understand and talk back. its rare, but sometimes i think wow! i understood. proud moment for you mama.
i think i am in my gethsemane point of my mission. i dont know how to spell that. but its like umm really hard, and exhausting, and tiring and i feel like i will be in asia forever. k happy i could get that out.
a mission is really hard. spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally.
last night as us four were riding on a tricycle the tric has to go up a huge hill and everytime we ride home i always think, "this tricycle will not make it" and it usually does. well last night i said it outloud as i was riding on the back hahaha with no seatbelt (dad don't freak out) and the driver couldnt really make it up the hill so he turns the steerling wheel and we go on 2 wheels and we almost fell over. but don't worry we just got off and walked up and we were fine.
people here don't get married til old and there are so many cute single girls here that need husbands, so i tell them they can all marry brett. and they all say "does he like philippina women" and i just say yes! so brett you have a million ladies here if you want them. they are all going to add you on facebook. Ha
i am getting my hair cut today cause it is too long. i have never said that in my life. my trainer told me the promised blessing of hard work is having your hair grow and its true! i love blessings!
we had zone conference last week and it was so fun! i loved it. i looked around the room and there were like 30 missionaries and i just felt so strong as we were all in the same place with one purpose, to do the lord's work. its a cool experience when you are apart of it. even though this has been the hardest 5 months of my life, its truely rewarding when you have amazing experiences or when you help people. i love it and grateful for all that's come my way.
love you all a ton!
xo
sis curtis

whoa

okay i am so popular. i got a million emails on the day that i have no time. good job guys! but i will email everyone back next week.
okay can i say how much i love my companion? she is the best and she is helping me SO MUCH. i taught 4 out of the 6 lessons one day. ya ME! I have never done that before. i didnt feel like a worthless missionary and felt like i was helping people YES!

so on the 12 of june it was the philippine's independence day. i kept saying happy 4th of july! haha no one gets my jokes here. i am teaching the philippines how sarcasm works cause they dont get it.

mom! the little green toys you sent me to give to the kids ya know? i gave them to them and they all were sooo happy! they loved them!! they took like these leaf things and tied them around their neck! i'll send you pics.

there is an part of my area that is a mountain. we have to do it 3 times a week. up there people don't live in civilization. as in, dirt floors what the! its like what you expect. its cool cause no other sisters area is like that! but no one speaks english there. so my tagalog is getting better yay!

happy birthday dad i can't remember how old you are-cause you are old. but happy birthday don't get too old in the next year!

so here's a funny story for ya'll..so we participated in choir. so hilarious ok. it was our ward conference yesterday so we had a special musical number. well ALL the girls wore red shirts and black skirts. we all looked the same. and all sat in the first two rows on the floor so we could stand up in the front and sing. well  was in the DEAD center. cause i am the tallest! what the i am short in america! anyway, i had to stand up first to get my position then everyone else followed. well in our church we dont have any air con so every sunday i fall asleep cause i am so tired, hot and bored cause i cant understand remember. so i fell asleep and heard brother vicher say "now we will have a musical number by our choir" yep. thats my cue. so i fix my hair, wipe my drool (not really just said that for exaggeration) and stand up. everyone is saying to me "go sister curtis go" haha SOOOO embarrassing. oh well then we sang and we did fine. but hilarious.

if i had one peso for everytime i heard "teach me how to duggy" or however you spell it i would be a millionarie. haha i dance everytime i hear that song. i miss music. everyone listen to cool music for me.
we have zone conference this week! i am so excited i love zone conferences! i remember thinking at my first one, wow the next one i'll be out almost 6 months! haha so cool.

i am doing so good here. i love being a missionary! it's so fun. everyday is so fun and exciting. my life will never be this crazy again, i hope. but i love these people people! i love them so much!! time is going by so fast. i realized i only have 12 more months-and i DONT KNOW THIS LANGUAGE!!! girls get screwed cause we only get 18months to learn a language and hello 5 of mine ARE GONE!! i am stressed. so stressed that my nice zone leader asked how i was doing and i just started crying cause i cant speak in tagalog. then he kept speaking tagalog to me-remember that is why i am criyng elder! then i went to the bathroom cause i didnt want anyone to notice and all these cute philippino missionaries were outside waiting to comfort me. how sweet huh? yes i cry all the time. i want to understand these people so bad and talk to them. everyone who is in america or speaking english count your blessings!!

thats it.
love ya'll  <--in remembrance of my texan  boyfriend
xo
sis c


ohhh good job mom running ragnar and all those cute ladies in our ward!! you guys are so cute! and dad for doing triathalons and other things. my parents are in better shape than me cool. love you!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Hello,

I really don't know what to say this email. Usually,  I am super prepared & organized and I write down things that I want to say, but this week was fast and feels like i emailed you all 5 minutes ago.

love my new companion. she is helping me with the language a lot. i kind of feel REALLY spoiled on my mission. i have had THEEEEE best comps. Oh no, the trial companions will probably come soon. pray for me. our new zone is fine..kind of boring. like i kind of want to die cause they all speak in tagalog and laugh and i can't understand. me and another elder are the only american's so we just talk all the time.

i got some new skits from UKAY UKAY its like D.I. but way more ghetto. all the philippina's get their skirts there. i got theeee cutest skirts that don't make me look frumpy! Anyway, i was getting ready and my companion's told me "sister curtis you are too skinny, you need to gain weight-that's not sexy" HA. Umm YES! here, girls want to be chubby not skinny, like all the models are chubby here! so funny. but i was so happy. my roomie said to me, i will show you how to gain weight. umm no thanks! i think i am sexy. haha. i am still a missionary, still a missionary.

shoot, what else? okay one of my kabahay's (roommates), the sister i live with. she is kind of the best. she speaks the most hilarious english ever. i am helping them with all their english. anyway, she speaks english to me sometimes. last night she plucked my eyebrows for me and we talked about my love life. best thing ever. then she told me "sister curtis don't get married to young cause the rice is so expensive" HAHAHHAHAHAHAH i was crying i was laughing so hard. but she said it in tagalog and its ten times more funny in tagalog. oh my gosh.

I have the best Dad in the world. Happy Father's Day! I just love you and so grateful for you. I respect you ten times more being out here on a mission. Haha. it's true. You are the best DAD!

that's it. love you all X 10. & i love this gospel. My Heavenly Father has given me so many blessing the last 5 months of my mission. Everyone count your blessings. Name them one by one. Jk. But seriously, I love this work its so hard, hot and exhausting but the experience i am having here its indescribable.
xoxo
sis C

Frizzy hair & I don't care

I am staying in cogeo! WOOOOO!!!! I will be getting a new comp tomorrow at transfer day! Excited. My first Zone Leader is now the AP and we saw them yesterday and i said "elder waite you better take care of me" cause he is my lolo (grandpa in the mission) and he said, "dont worry you will like your new companion-i know her and she's nice" YES! Thank you.

BUTTTT now we are four in Cogeo. Ugh. I don't like that. I knew things would change. I am super spoiled here. There are two rooms in our apartment and so i use one closet and sis O uses one. So I knew i had things too good with my own room pretty much! Anyway, I don't care I just PRAY I get a good comp.

just so everyone knows, parker and i have been together for 2 years. On June 1. He's the greatest. Just so everyone who reads this knows.

So, I had my first "what the crap is this meat I don't want to ask" experience and guess what it was?? LIVER. And I liked it. I didn't know until after we went home.

okay so my cute companion, it was her birthday on june 2 so we went out to eat and she bought. here if its your birthday the birthday person treats! gay right? anyway, i was fine with it. i asked her what her favorite present she ever got was. GUESS WHAT SHE SAID? I am thinking she will say, a pretty outfit, or diamonds, or a car, or something cool. she said, "one birthday i got 3 roses from my dad" uhhhhhhh the sweetest thing i have ever heard! thats how great these people are here. her first name is ella mae and i am going to name my little girl ella after her! haha

another story with my comp. ha so funny. so the other night we were walking to our apartment and there was this fried chicken stand (they're everywhere) and it smelled so good. I turned to her and said "have you ever made fried chicken, do you like fried chicken, then i asked her 4 other questions about fried chicken because thats how us curtis girls do. we ask a million questions. my companion had no idea what i was talking about cause she doesnt understand my english and said "fried chicken? where?" HA! i just laughed. it was funny then, when we are exhausted and all sweaty and stuff ya know?

i found PREGO! ya know the spaghetti sauce?? i made american spaghetti for my companion! here there spaghetti is sweet and nasty and i dont like it, but my companion liked it!

last p-day we went to the mall and i saw THEEEE cutest ray bans of my life. don't worry 7,000 Pesos. But i did not want to take them off. i said everyone "parker would tell me to buy these" i need to stop going into malls they make me go crazy. PS mom when we come back you will love these stores. all the clothes ARE SOOO CUTE! you would die mom. and they are cheap!!

so we turned half of our area over to another area so we had to work with those elders and show them all around that area and have them meet the LA's and investigators. i was SO stressed out. the elders were one american whose tagalog is perfect and a philippino. i was just nervous about my tagalog. so the first lesson, the elders share a message then turn to my companion to have her testify, she does beautifully, then she looks at me. and i forget every word of taglog. this is what i said "i know..that the church of jesus christ is true. NICE shelb. oh my gosh. after i stopped stressing i kept talking more and more in tagalog and the american elder said "sister curtis your tagalog is actually good" YES!!! best moment of my life. thank you.

well, its my last day as a trainee. WOO! i made it 12 weeks. the first week i didn't think i would make it 2 weeks. and i did! success. pray for my new companion! i love you family!!!

best week so far!!!

magandang umaga po! 

this week was so good. went by super fast. we had so many activities. we have like no money left cause we have to pay our electricity bill and its outrageous! but the lord takes care of us! we had like 3 dinner appoinments and a wedding reception! so fun. 

*next week i won't email til wednesday, which is tuesday for you

at our dinner appointment, i went to scoop rice on my plate and ants came crawling out of the rice. like 3 or 4. yummy right? don't worry i still ate it. for some reason i just don't care ya know? 

yesterday in relief society, ya know i can't understand anything but the lesson was on prayer and the sister goes, "we pray everyday, especially for our sister missionaries in our ward to not get raped" UHHHH??? what the!!! YES YES please pray for that. so scary. everyone just nodded their heads, so scary. but don't worry that won't happen! 

we went to the manilla temple for the sealing of the couple in our ward. so cute. it made me want to get married, but in america. anyways, the couple's family aren't members so we gave them a tour and my comp did most of the talking, but then i bore my testimony and i just cried. what the. its crazy cause when you are next to that wonderful building you just feel the spirit so strong of the temple. like hello how can you not want to go in there? everyone was crying. i spoke in english but told them its a beautiful place inside and i feel so peaceful and warm there. i told them its the closest place i feel to my heavenly father. i love the temple and SOOO grateful all my family are members so they can all go inside with me when my special day comes..cough cough next year. jk. anyways focus shelby. 

tuesday i got sick. the first time. i woke up with like all the sinus stuff everyone said its from the weather, one day it rains and is cold then its super hot. i think they were right. so all morning i just rested. and our elders in our district brought me medicine so sweet right! but then i just had a huge headache and the elders were like, can we give you a blessing? ha i was like..uhh i have a headache but they insisted. i think they like the practice. but then seriously the next day i was healed! power of the priesthood. i still have an annoying runny nose. 

we had a baptism on saturday so fun. they are so cute, hazel, hasin, and hershie (like the candy bar) ha so fun. 8,10, & 11. i'll send pics. that's all i can think of. i love you all and pray i won't get transfered cause i love love love cogeo. it's the celestrial kingdom of the mission. i want to be assigned to "cogeo" mission. ha!

bye!

xo

Sister Curtis