Real talk, this has been the hardest week of my life. i wake up every morning and i'm like "what am i doing" and the next 16.5 months sound like a lifetime. but, that being said, i don't doubt that i am here for a reason. in the past month and a half the hardest moments have been the ones where i feel like i can hear my future self just telling me how i can't see it now, but that this mission is incredibly necessary for whatever comes next.

That sounded very, very cliche, but BEAR WITH ME PEOPLE.

 

Okay so CANADA:

-every church has hockey sticks in their gyms

-the money is literally maple syrup scented and waterproof and colorful and all cute

-my mission president + wife (the burts from bountiful) are darling and sister burt has the cutest smile lines and i'm just like "aw".

-nobody here is actually Canadian

Not kidding.

In the past two days i have taught people from china, india, iran, myanmar, the philippines, guatemala, honduras, mexico, cuba, korea, el salvador, colombia, peru, and bolivia. in TWO DAYS. our ward is all spanish speaking and they're darling and they made me bear my testimony in front of the whole sacrament meeting EN ESPANOL with the other elder that came in with me which wasn't even fair because HE IS FROM EL SALVADOR and therefore has better spanish than english. ugh. but it's okay, it's coming. i'm the happiest person when people ask how long i've studied spanish and i say "uh, six weeks" and they are slightly blown away. not that i actually speak spanish yet. 

Please everyone now imagine me trying to mime looking up mormon.org to this kindest little arab man because this happens ALL THE TIME. we've taught about equal amounts of spanish and english lessons and a punjabi (from india) one too. not that we speak punjabi. but we somehow got our point across and this sweet little old man in his turban SHOWED UP TO CHURCH. hahaha we died. go team. vancouver actually just started the first Hindi ward IN THE WHOLE WORLD. cool huh??? I tell all the arabs "hubiz" (bread) and "wenek" (where are you), thank you Dina Budeiri. and all the chinese people that i love them and ni-hao. thank you Micah Richards. apparently by the time I finish my mission I should be able to teach simple lessons in chinese as well. also i got to use my french already!! all the signs are in both french and english and it just makes my heart happy.

This is the prettiest place, massive pine trees that come right up to the road. fall is coming fast here, it's a little chilly. we went running in the fog this morning and i was like "sos i actually can't see where i'm going". we live in the basement of the darling blue house i'll send a picture of momentarily.

Ah. i feel so much better just writing to you people. it means the world to know that you're praying for me and thinking of me, the emails and notes have been lifesavers. 

con mucho, mucho amor

 

Hermana Reagan Curtis

email address:  reagan.curtis@myldsmail.net

blog: www.reaganinbc.blogspot.com/

ps here are some photos, please enjoy. the mtc goodbyes were heartbreaking :(

but GUYS IT'S ALL GOOD BECAUSE I AM DOING GOD'S WORK RIGHT NOW!

lovessssss

 

 

SO MANY LOVES to nina + the cochrans for their darling package, morley for being the greatest cousin in all of ever and bringing micah and i real live fresh fruit, and of course my dearest fam for all the notes and letters and such. and lauren. and madeline. les quiero.

ALSO got the happiest letter from mi madre the other day, i love love love hearing that nick larsen, braeden harris, jackson adams, jack bateman, gunner miller, and sterling larsen are all back together around my kitchen counter. even though now i'm the one on a mission. hurts my heart that i missed most of you boys, but it means the world to hear that you're back where you belong, keeping nan entertained and eating your way through my pantry just like high school. <3

other than the plenitude of goodbyes, this week was nearly exactly the same as any other. australian handball. spanish. class. teaching. pre-departure anxiety. packing. four square. temple trip. four square. class. spanish. class. but it's also been filled with all kinds of friendship and all kinds of spiritual experiences. so cool to sit in infield orientation (even though it was 9 hours of me wanting to die) and realizing that just within the few friends i was sitting with, we were all off to russia, nicaragua, argentina, canada, and thailand. in the realest way we are off to change the world.

in other news, our elders have taken it upon themselves to initiate the new missionaries in their dorms which has included everything from piling shaving cream on their floors to switching off all the power in the building for an entire night. also dear elder jefferson harwood was sleep walking from his top bunk and very nearly hung himself from the guardrail but ESTA BIEN. everyone is still in one piece. 

on a more tender note, again and again this week i felt like "how in heaven's name am i going to teach this gospel to people, in spanish, in a way that will make them want to listen to me". i just feel like there are 900 things i need to be doing better. but, again and again, my sweet Heavenly Father has proved to me that He knows me, He loves me, and that He needs me. in vancouver, teaching His children who do not yet know any of this. i feel lucky. lucky to be a missionary. what a tiny percentage of people get to do this. yes, it is a sacrifice beyond anything i have previously experienced. but i do not doubt that for the rest of my life, and everything that comes after, i will be entirely, thoroughly, completely grateful for these 18 months as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

D&C 84:88 - "for there I will be also, with angels to bear you up"

love you all to pieces, 

hermana reagan curtis

reagan.curtis@myldsmail.net

reaganinBC.blogspot.com

PICS!

-friendship happening, also me being bewildered (elder badge morris, elder kaden calderwood, and hermana kellie bronson)

-a physical representation of our mental and emotional state after infield orientation

-team photo with the maestros, whom we adore

-departing districts just <3

-studying out in the wilderness (jk still mtc)

-happiness at the temple walk with my czech-republic bound friends

-JUNIOR HIGH REUNION! now i have kenzie & kell in my zone and it is the greatestttt

-when you run into joe and will watanabe and also fielding and you are thrilled

please prepare yourselves for an entirely all over the place email, but this week was absolute madness.

FLIGHT PLANS PEOPLE. I AM MOVING TO CANADA. i fly out of the SLC airport at 10:55am, straight to Vancouver. i was slightly disappointed because i wanted layovers in cool cities and i wanted to have an adventure or something on the way there (sorry aj), but this is probably for the better. based on past unsupervised travel experiences.

okay, so. sunday and monday were just full of mini miracles, because out of literally THREE THOUSAND MISSIONARIES i was randomly seated in the second row, front and center for sunday devotional. and then who walks in and sits down directly in front of me (as a special guest) but brigham bateman himself hahahahahhaa. happiest moment ever, especially since i fly to canada the day he comes into the mtc so we had already had to say goodbye for 2+ years. also jake holland's parents spoke to us and it was honestly remarkable and i loved every second of it especially since sweet paige holland recognized me (since i look like you mom) from the stand and let me slip through security after to give her a hug. SUCH HAPPINESS!

Miracle number two was monday, when hermana bronson and i met our randomly assigned volunteer member to accompany us to teach. that was a poorly organized sentence. lo siento. anyways turns out BRYCE LUND of all people is our assigned member hahahah we both DIED. so now bryce and i get to chill for an hour or two every week. except we speak only spanish the whole time. and also teach people about the gospel. such friendship. 

MORE GOOD NEWS darling mikelle dimond is now in my zone, and the classroom next door, and the bedroom next door lol. and as sister training leaders we got to do all the official welcome stuff for her so yay for mountain ridge/lone peak reunions! we keep each other sane and just reminisce and i love her.

by the way, since bronson and i are the sister training leaders for the zone we get this lovely little indestructible flip phone. but our elders think they're funny and stole it for like an entire 24 hours the other day. literally took it back to the dorms at night so we were in full panic mode for ages. punks.

Other highlights include learning to play australian handball with all our Czech / Slovak / Bulgarian / Polish friends, joining some kids playing 4square on our way back from the temple while in dresses and suits because WE LIVE FOR QUATRO-QUADRO, and more wall-sits.

espanol is coming, still not entirely sure who speaks spanish in canada, pero ESTA BIEN. also we got to teach some native spanish speakers over skype this week for the first time and I FELL OFF MY CHAIR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LESSON. true story. please care.

okay. that was a novel. i love each of you who read the whole thing. and also the rest of you. such good things are coming people. this is anything but easy, my district saw me real-life cry for the first time last night actually. also i promised myself i would be completely real with these letters so that's why i included that. but, like always, wouldn't trade it for anything.

I know that my God loves me. i know He wants me here. and i know that finally, i am a part of something so much bigger than this life and this world and that somebody needs to hear about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from my mouth.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

con mucho amor,

hermana reagan curtis

ps shout out to em for sending her letter as an actual origami crane YOU WIN OKAY.

This week was absolutely, entirely all over the place. which is interesting since i essentially do the same thing every single day. but yes. anyways.

WALL-SITS: so there we are, a dozen missionaries-in-training sitting in class one night after a long, long day. and my teacher hermano stephens suddenly goes "okay who's homesick?", and about half the class raises their hands. so then he's like, "okay. wall sits. now. all of you. two minutes." and we are ?????? but sure enough a moment later we're all holding our books on our laps and dutifully doing our wall-sits even though we are entirely confused. at the end of the two minutes everyone is moaning and groaning but when he asked us what was running through our minds in those final ten seconds not a single person said "home". it was all "legs" hahahah. and hermano stephens looked at us and said "that's how your mission should be. you're working so hard, you're wearing yourself out so thoroughly that you cannot even use any of your energy to be homesick, or sad, or distracted. you are giving it all, so that's all your mind focuses on." and i was like YES this is so good!!!!!!

ELECTRA ELLA JANE COCHRAN: said goodbye to this lovely sister as she heads off for Russia this week. that was tender. we've been through a lot together since we started playing tennis together when we were like, i don't even know, 12?? 13? anyways, she's about to work wonders and that's all. also she left utah on sunday night and didn't get to novosibirk russia until WEDNESDAY so please feel bad for her.

SPANISH: It's coming. it's coming people. as much as i trust that it will come with time, i get incredibly frustrating when i feel like i'm speaking with a child because i don't know all the tenses and i mess up conjugations and just 900 little things. also i got called out on how much french is in my spanish twice this week by absolute strangers, so there's that. BUT after teaching Hermano Stephens one night (who was acting as our investigator, pablo) he paused and said "okay hermanas, while it's just you and i, i need to ask you something. what are you doing differently? why is your spanish so much better than the others?" and i ZERO percent mean for this to sound braggy in any way, because, like i said, roughly 900 mistakes every single day, but that was such a tender mercy to hear. it's hard to figure out where you actually are, competence-wise. so that was so so good for me to hear. just made me even more excited to throw myself into mastering this language.

FRIENDSHIP: best day ever was hosting miss micah richards on wednesday, sweetest reunion. we lived on the same floor at BYU so it's just like Stover Hall all over again hahahha. even though we both would probably rather be wandering paris together again, the MTC is a good time. ALSO i think i was the first person tal lamb saw in the MTC he was still a little in shock hahahah. also spencer adams and koa taggart???? such friendship such good times. seriously the MTC is overflowing now, we got over 800 new missionaries on wednesday but I LOVE IT.

ps sorry this is such a novel guys, almost done.

I PRAYED IN FRONT OF 3,000 PEOPLE ON TUESDAY. for devotional, for the whole MTC and also Bishop Waddel of the presiding bishopbric. and I shook his hand, and it was super cool. but beforehand they told me not to use the word "that" so it was slight anxiety.

FIELD TRIP:  guys this is SO REAL. been quite sick all week, and after a slightly incompetent MTC doctor shut me down i had to talk him into giving me the prescription and doses i needed but ALL IS WELL because he finally gave in, which meant Hermana Bronson and i got to walk to the byu student health center to pick up my medicine. also now i am feeling significantly better. but yes it was beyond thrilling. the outside world is apparently still standing.

speaking of which, i SO appreciate the news updates from sam and sarah and hannah and dad and the rest of you. i would be nothing without you.

love you all to pieces, good things are happening

hermana reagan curtis

PS literally every time we go to take a shower there are like 3 different girls singing hymns so loud and i want to die every time so the other night hermana bronson was like "hey. i dare you." and, never wanting to be the one to turn down a dare, i was like "k" and started belting the star spangled banner in my very sicky, very not-even-decent-when-im-healthy voice. ahahhaha shambles. we thought it was funny. but the other sisters didn't.

OKAY BYE MISS YOU ALL MUCHO!!!​