Merry Christmas

Hey everyone,

It has been a long time since we have talked - hope you haven't missed me. Well I am doing great down here in Chile.

It does not feel like Christmas at all down here, seeing that is it 95 degrees plus everyday. And down here they don't do anything on the 25th they do everything on the 24th. Open gifts and that jazz. Tonight we get to stay out till 12am with a family. I am so pumped to party, well not really party but sit in someone's house and eat A LOT OF FOOD!!! YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! I will let you know how I feel after tonight.

Okay we had Christmas dinner and a program at the mission home, I haven't eaten so much food in my life. I was like, I haven't seen food like this for 2 months, "get in my belly!".

That was a bad night, and the crazy thing was we didn't get back to San Felipe til 12:30 at night and it was a little scary walking around that late at night. Nothing happened, although a HUGE dog came at us and that was scary, I mean this dog was BIG! but I growled back and he ran like a little kitty. I´m huge!! lol

Well, I love you all. I hope you have a good Christmas!!!

take care,
Elder Christensen

week end 11.22.09

hey everyone,

it's been a month and i am loving the mission, i am working hard and having fun. but this week was a little tough, because we worked really hard and didn't find anyone new to teach but our investigator, Johnathan came to church and he took out his earring so he is getting ready for his baptizum on the 6th of dec. yessssssssss!

okay, this week has been a crazy one, and the only things i am going to tell you about are some of the fun and crazy stuff that happened this week.

week end 11.1.09

so i have been in the field for a week now and it is so amazing! i am learning so much and working hard. i have no idea what is going on half the time but i have picked up on the language somewhat so i have an idea of what they are saying. speaking back to them is difficult, i don't know a lot of words still so its tough but my companion has been here for 21 months so he is helping so much, i love him. his name is elder davies from riverton. i am loving this so much, but my feet hurt so much. lol

TUESDAY
i got here on tuesday morning and spent the day at the mission house and went through some training and ate and took a nap which was needed so much. then i got to meet my companion, and it was elder davies, i was so pumped. he is like 6´5" about 210 pounds. he is so funny and he is working me so hard. well, we got my bags and headed off to our mission and house. my mission is 2 hours by subway/bus from santiago. its called san felipe. its a town right in the middle of the mountains. its a pretty little town. the houses are so little, most of them are just one level and have no carpet mostly tile floor. i have been in one house that had dirt floor. its so different here. and we taught a lesson and i was like on my first day i don't understand anything. well, i just bore my testimony and shared a scripture. the family we taught was the family parra, they are getting baptized on sunday, i am so excited.

WEDNESDAY
my first full day in the field. we started the day off with zone class and training. we met everyone in the mission and talked a little and then split into districts and went over the numbers from last week, i wasn't here so i didn't know what was going on. then we practiced the 1 lesson and then went back to the gym and went over everyone's numbers and the stake pres. came and talked to us. it was cool besides i didn't understand anything. lol. after that we went to a members house, her name is Jenny and she cooks us lunch on tue, wed, and thurs. and also does our laundry. she is so nice, i love her so much. then i we were off to work. we contacted some and taught some lessons and my feet were so sore at night. i have never walked so much in my life.

THURSDAY
our alarms didn't go off so we didn't wake up on time and it was nuts. i thought i was going to be in so much trouble but we just got up and got started on time still some how. lol. everyday we start off with 1 hour of personal study then 1 hour of comp study then 1 hour of language study. i have never studied so much in my life. but i am learning so much. and on this day we have comp planning for the next week for 2 hours, it seems like a long time but we didn't get to plan everything i was like what. after that we went to jenny's for lunch and she made some crazy stuff, it was rice with potatoes, meat, peas, carrots, and some other stuff. it was good. and she makes the fruit thing its a bowl of fruit that is amazing! i love the food down here. after that we taught some lessons and contacted, we contact around 20 people a day. that means we share a short message with 20 people. we don't really knock on doors because they all have fences around them with sharp metal things on it to keep out the robbers. so we yell "Hello". its pretty fun. oh there are so many dogs here. it is nuts. and most of them have ticks and the ticks can get up to the size of a baby grape. but you just act like you are picking up a rock and they take off running, its so funny. they are such chickens. and i got blisters on both feet after this day, my feet are getting worked. my i have never walked so much.

FRIDAY
once again we wake up and study and work out. then go contacting for 2 hours then have lunch. and then go teach people and contact. and i was so tired today, wow. this is a lot harder then i thought.

SATURDAY
some stuff again. but we got to teach this family a mom and 2 kids, the mom is an inactive member. and we got her daughter to get ready to get baptized on the 29th of nov. i hope she stays strong and gets baptized. oh she lives in the "blocks" apartments. they are a little run down but hey they are wonderful people.

SUNDAY
okay my first sunday, well we had a meeting with the bishop, counselors and all those fun people. i didn't understand that at all. man its get lol. and then we stood out side greeting everyone and that was fun everyone was so happy and just seemed so alive. then the meeting started and they had me get up and say who i was, where i am from, how long i have been here and i bore my testimony. it was funny, i made all the members laugh. and it was fast and testimony meeting, and it is weird to feel the spirit and not know what is going on at all. but all the members come up to me and just start talking and they all talk to fast and i have no idea what they are saying and its like they expect me to know. lol not. but i am having a great time and i miss everyone back home. take care and pray for the family parra that they will be ready on sunday to get baptized. have a good week and talk to you on monday (my p-day). oh one more thing, this stupid keyboard is set up way different, its so annoying.

love you all,
Elder Christensen