week ending 1.30.11

Hey everyone,

Well this week was really sweet!!!!!!!!!! Danilo and Violeta got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooooooooooooooo they were so happy! I messed up on the prayer and had to do it 2 times, whoooooooopppppssss. But it's all good - Danilo still got a remission of his sins. And we asked them how they felt after and they said, "I feel as light as a feather." It is so awesome to hear the testimony of a new convert and see that they are really happy and that they wanted to be baptized to follow Christ. We had the baptism on Saturday and the got confirmed on Sunday and they were really happy. Danilo had his interview to get the priesthood, he is going to be a Priest this next week! So excited for him and his family! woooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The photo of Danilo and Violeta in normal clothes is right after they got baptized.

Well the other reason why this week was so great is that we found of 10 new people this week! 5 of them came to church and they loved it and the members were doing such a good job to make them feel at home. I am really excited to keep working with them. One of them is named Juan (John) and he is great. He lives alone and travels all over Chile to find work and when the work that he is doing is up he moves. He is a hard working man and he needs your prayers so if you could put him in your prayers so he can keep learning the gospel that would be awesome!

The other 4 are girls, they are so funny. They asked me if I knew the Jonas Brothers and I said no, and then they asked me if I knew Hannah Montana. I said she was my ex-girlfriend and they freaked out. But I told them right after that I was joking. But one of the girls went and got a magazine and there was a photo of Hannah Montana and a boy and they all said that it was me. haha. Crazy little girls. Well, their ages are 18, 16, 10, 9, 7.  We are also teaching their grandma and brother & cousin. This family is so big they all live together in the same lot but in different houses. They are all reading and praying so we are going to keep working with them and see if they can keep the things we ask them to do and if they really want to do this. They are great.

Thanks for all the prayers that you send my way. They are helping a lot, I would not be able to do this work with out them. And thanks for supporting me in this battle haha. Have a good week!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 1.23.11

Hey everyone,

Well this week was a good one!  We made a lot of progress this week and I have been really happy with what I am learning with Elder Mendez.  He is a funny kid and always is smiling. haha. So the good news is that the family that we have been teaching has plans to get baptized this coming weekend and I am so pumped for them! They are such good people and they are like, "you guys are our family" but sometimes I don't know if they really understand that we can't do a lot of things - but it's all good. haha. Well, they will be getting a remission of their sins this weekend and we are helping them make plans to go to the temple when the time comes. So when that happens I will be coming back here.  Anyone that wants to come, feel free to join me (with your own money haha).

So we have lost all of our other investigators that we had, but this week we are going to work really hard to get some more. So a thing you can do for me is pray that we find some more people this week. thanks. =)

I have been learning a lot about goals and desires, so I have been thinking a lot about my goals and my desires. I have a lot of goals but are they really my desires?  I found out no. When you have a desire you do all you can to complete it, like in the mission, you will make a goal, present it before God and then make the plans and present those too.  Then you will always be thinking of that desire and pray everyday about it and to all you can do to complete it.  Like my desire number one is to baptize and baptize, so I have to make a goal and then a plan and do everything I can to complete it.  Even when I am just dragging, I have to get up and put on that happy face on and do it because I want to. A desire is something that we want to do. I know that we all have desires but I want you to look at them and really think, "Do I do everything I can to complete that goal?" "Did I make that goal and not do anything?" "How bad do I want to do that (thing)?" I know that this will help you all out because it helped me out!

I love you all and thanks for all you do to help me! Have a good week!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 1.16.11

Hey everyone!

This week was a fast one, it feels like I was just on this dang computer yesterday writing the last dang email to you all. haha. Well, let's see what I can talk about this week. well..........................

..................... Danilo and Violeta when to church and are loving it, and on top of that they accepted to be baptized on the 30th of this month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, man I was so pumped when they said yes!  I never thought that I would be happier then hitting a grand slam but I found it.  It's helping the people of the world (in this moment the people of Chile.) receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Man, I wish I could let you know what that feeling is like but I don't have the words to do in an email so you will have to wait to the end of my mission. haha. So they went on a trip and didn't read one dang thing but they prayed the whole time so I was like, oh man, they aren't very good with reading............... I was wrong!  They got here and started to read and I was like yessssssssss. It was so great and it's nice that they are both 22 years old. We get along so well.  I didn't go one time and I made the mistake of telling them my name =( and Danilo was like what is Jackson?  It's funny because all the people in the USA know me by McKade but all people here in Chile know me by Jackson. So its fun haha. But if you could put this family in your prayers that they can keep reading, praying, and going to church so they can make it to their baptism that would be super great!

So something that is going on here in Colina, there is a stage outside of the city hall and there are all kinds of things going on like plays, bands, classical music, etc. But the bad thing is that we can't go because its during the time we have to work and today we have to start working at 7 and that's when it starts so yah. haha. But there are members that are playing in it and that is sweet. It looks really cool. What else?  It's about 100 degrees here, "I am bakin' like a tosted chesse-it! It's so hot here!" (what movie?) I have to put on sunscreen. I know its crazy - me, Elder Christensen, putting on sunscreen. It's so hot and the sun seems a little bit stronger here than it is in Utah........... I will be glad when it's cold again!  At least I can get away from the cold - the heat there is nowhere to run.
  

Well thanks for reading my email of the week. I hoped you liked it. Have a good week and I love you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

The haircut that I did myself!!!!  good or bad?

 

week ending 1.9.11

 Hey everyone,

Something amazing happened to us this week!  We were working hard and we were talking to a family that has been going to church for a long time but they live together so they can't get baptized.  We are always trying to help them so they can make the decision to get married. This week they told us that they are going to be getting married as soon as it is possible so we were really happy to hear this.  Their names are Cesar, Maritza, and Bastian, they are great!  Please add them in your prayers so they can get more help with the plans.  Thanks.

We did service for them and the photo with the hats is the first day we did service for them.  During this service we ran into about 8 spiders that are so big and they are the most dangerous and the fastest and craziest spiders I have ever seen.  If they bite you, you can: 1) die or 2) get a shot and you have a hole where it bit you. haha.  But I am really careful when we are dealing with these spiders.  I was carrying a sword and cutting them in half or smashing them from a long ways away.  And it doesn't help that I hate spiders so this makes it really fun! haha. But we cleared out their house and tore it down. haha.  It was really fun and I have videos of the spiders and stuff so when I get home ask me to see them. haha.

I am learning that I have to learn how to act on my decisions so that I can change for the good and help others, because lately I have been backing out on something that I need to do.  But I am learning so much and I am going to be changing that this week. The thing that helped me is that I read in James chapter 2 it talks about faith and it says this, without works our faith is dead.  So I was like, oh man my faith is getting kicked hard so I have to change something.  So when I feel like I need to do something I am just going to do it so I can learn just to do the things that I know are right and the things that the Holy Ghost tells me to do.  I know life is hard but the Gospel is easy to live.  I love you all and thanks for all the support you have given me.  Have a good week and I'll be talking to you next week.

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 1.2.11

Hey everyone!

I am so pumped for the year 2011!  I have so many goals and stuff that I want to do before I come home. I am going to just work so hard that when I come home I am going to sleep for 3 days straight so don't make any plans anyone because my 3 days of sleep are really important. haha. No, I'm just playin. But I am really going to kick my own butt this year and just do everything I can so I can help out the people of Chile and just lose myself in the work!

Well the good news is that we have a family that we are teaching.  Danilo, Violeta and Ben went to church and Ben, the little boy, was running all over the place and just loving it. He went to the primary and loved it and left with the biggest smile on his face. Danilo and Violeta loved it and were talking with people and answering questions in the classes. Oh man, I am so excited for them, I am going to give everything I have to help this little family and the crazy thing is, they are only 2 years older then me haha. I can't imagine myself in their shoes.

The new year was fun, a family in the ward brought us dinner to our house because we had to be in the house at 10 pm so they brought us food. Then we made a fire in the back waiting for the new year and we started screaming at 12 it was great! I was into 2011 and sleeping before any of the people in the USA got to 2011. That's funny haha!

I am not complaining or anything but I am so hot - I am going to die of heat. I have not sweat so bad in my life!  It is so hot and we had a sports day on the 31st and I got so burnt thanks to my thinking, I am tan I won't get burnt. False I got burnt haha. But I took my baseball glove and ball and Elder Stark took his glove and we got to throw and I still can throw the baseball really far and really hard. It made my day and I am so happy that I got to throw. The beat thing ever! haha.

That was my week and thanks for all the support that you all give me! Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Talk to you next week!

love,
Elder Christensen