Curtis, William

One of the most beautiful analogies I've ever heard in my life is this: Canada is like if aliens studied America for 30 years, and then tried recreating it. Everything is roughly the same, except for some very important differences. Primarily Food. Once again, mostly the same, except for one crucial Food genre: chips. For some reason, these people (who I have an immense love for) love.... ketchup chips. On everything. Like ketchup flavored lays, cheetos, and a whole bunch of ones I've never even heard of. I have yet to try one, because I'm scared I'll like it. Also, for the first time, I tried Canadian syrup. Now hear me out: I know and believe America is the greatest country on earth. We have the best everything- except syrup. I don't know how people settle for anything else after trying this literal liquid gold. I'm going to find a way to smuggle some home. In other news, me and Elder Girabaldi did some service at a soup kitchen on Wednesday, and we met a man ...

So one funny thing about Edmonton: there are no mountains anywhere. Like this place is just one big plain. The only defining landmark in this whole place is the city skyline. And even that is pretty small.  Needless to say,  this is very different from Arizona. Don't even get me started on the weather. It is absolutely gorgeous here, but just a bit cold. Yesterday it was 45 degrees outside. In August. I have no words. The work in Edmonton is interesting. I'm called to speak Spanish, but it's super hard to find latinos here. So when we're out in public, we're usually talking to English speakers. I don't say white people because I'm convinced they don't exist up here hahaha. I think I've seen about 5 over this past week. This has gotta be one of the most diverse cities I've ever been to. I've talked to people from Siri Lanka, Nigeria, Taiwan, Venezuela, Mexico, and a couple of others I don't remember. The latinos do exist somewhere; so it...

The last couple days at the MTC were bittersweet. I was stoked to get to the field, but at the same time it would mean I'd be leaving good ol' Distrito 24-J. I really love those guys; from balling up in the gym together to seeing how much everyone was improving in class and even just sitting in our rooms together at night talking about who knows what helped me make some memories that I won't be forgetting soon. We really are scattered across the American continent hahaha. All the way from Edmonton to Lima to Layton. That's also been one of the coolest parts of my MTC experience: getting to see how people who are completely different can come together, be united by the gospel. and then go everywhere in the world to spread the pure joy of the gospel.  Just to elaborate on that point, the pure joy of the gospel is a message that has been at the forefront of my mind this past week. That's God's whole entire purpose: to help us find joy (citation Moses 1:39).When mis...

Hello everyone and welcome back to the life of WIll Curtis, I'm so happy to have you here, and I hope life is good wherever you are.  This week everyone who's leaving the country on their missions (except for me and another guy in our district) got their reassignments! It was so cool to see where my elders will be going before they get to their original assignments. The list was diverse too- we had places from Las Vegas to Portland to Layton Utah! It was so rad. I think I've said this in every single email but I love my district so much. They are some of my best friends and I've been so grateful to spend my MTC days with them. Definitely a highlight of the week. I'm gonna keep this one short and finish by sharing a little spiritual thought. In all the devotionals this week, the theme has been consecration, and how it's essential to being an effective missionary. The speaker last night was Brother Neilson, and he discussed how we can dedicate our lives to wo...