week ending 2.13.11

Hey everyone!

This week was a good week, we helped out a investigator get over some addictions that he had and he went to church and really loved it this time. He got to see a baptism and he also loved that too, he is getting ready to be baptized on the 27 of this month. He is such a great guy! A funny story with him, we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he drinks tea and coffee and we taught him that it is bad for him and we was like what with a surprised look on his face and said, that is bad for you?! It was great and he gave us all his tea and coffee. So he is really willing to make the changes that he needs to so he can be baptized to be washed of all of his sins! So if you can put him in your prayers that would be sweet! Thank you.

More about our week:  Well we had a freak storm come into the part of Chile that I am in. It started to rain and there was lighting and all that fun stuff and I asked the people during the 3 days when was the last time that this had happened and they said I have no idea. Or I don't think ever. So the world is changing or just Chile. haha. Also there were 35 earthquakes in the South part of Chile, don't worry I didn't get to feel them. (dang it). haha. But the country is going crazy and I get to be to see it all. Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha. Well, that's what happened in Chile.

So today we got our fridge fixed after not having one for the past 3 weeks and now I can buy food and eat good now.!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, seeing that my mom is health food crazy. haha.  But she isn't crazy. haha. Maybe just a little. haha. I love you mom. And the same guy worked on the thing that heats the water up and now it's all good and we can take hot showers with a high water pressure, so pumped am I! hahaha.

We also have 2 other families that are working towards a baptismal date, the first one is Cristian and Stephanie, they are so great and want to get baptized the only thing that is hard for them is getting to church. So if you could put them in your prayers so they can make it so church so they can complete their goal. The other family that we are working with is German, his daughter Cloudia, and her son Mat. They are super great!  We found them yesterday and we have high hopes for them. So if you could put them in your prayers that would be great! Thanks.

I love this quote:

"Tell me what a man thinks about when he is not required to think, and I´ll tell you what kind of man he is."  ~David O. McKay

I love you all and have a good week!

love,

Elder Christensen

PS  You thought I forgot, HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

week ending 5.2.10

Hey Everyone,

Well this week was really good for us in Conchali 10.  We had a baptism.  His name is Carlos and he is 15 years old.  He is a little gangster but he is really funny and he likes the church and feels comfortable in it, that's always good to hear. We have been working with him for a long time but we got him to the water.  His baptism was really good.  His family was there and now his brother and sister want to get baptized, and his cousin too.  So we are going to work with them and hopefully help them be baptized too.  So I think May is going to be a good month for our Heavenly Father in Conchali 10.

Last week we did service.  We were putting in stepping stones for a family and the father of the family was helping us.  When we would put down one of the stones we would put sand under it and he kept telling us it was anti-earthquake.  Man, he is the funniest guy.  He was a wrestler here in Chile, a luchador.  Just like Nacho Libre, it's cool to hear his stories.

A little about my sector:
We have lunch with a family everyday but Monday, but sometimes the family can't do it so we cook our own food.  Elder Ojeda made some Mexican food, rice with milk.  Man, that stuff is so good.  We have made hamburgers and mashed potatoes (thanks for the packets mom! hahaha)  We only eat out on Monday's.  (Man, I waste so much money on Monday's.)  A sister washes our clothes, all we have to do is buy the soap.  Man, the members love the missionaries. 
My sector is really different than my last one.  I am in the city and there is a lot more stuff going on and it's faster.  But it's not a bad sector, we don't have any problems with the people and we are happy for that.
My ward is really cool.  It's a ward from super old people to newly married to babies.  It's a really nice ward and I love it.  But the building doesn't have heat so it's really cold.  During Sacrament Meeting there was an earthquake, like 5.4 or something.  It was rather big and I was like weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Some of the older sisters got up and ran for the doors.  I just sat there like, "this is fun!" 

These are my sweet new soccer shoes.  They were 30 bucks at the mall and I love them.

Update on me:

-I am 6'2" - still  :-(
-I am 210 pounds - yes I have gained 10 pounds :-(
(I had a hard time getting my suit pants on so I will be working out this week so they fit me.  Man I am getting fat!  hahaha

Have a good week everyone.

Love you all,
Elder Christensen

week ending 3.7.10

Hey everyone,

I was asked to talk about my life in Chile and what it has been like after the earthquake.

Well, my house is like half of a normal house, it has one bathroom, 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and an upstairs that we don't use. In our back yard we have a lemon tree and a grape vine, they are so yummy. All and all, it's a really good house. For breakfast, I eat cereal and milk everyday. For lunch, we eat with members Tuesday through Sunday, Monday we are on our own. And we don't have time for dinner but I eat snacks when there is time. The sister Jenny in my ward washes our clothes, they have really small washers, and they don't have dryers. (well some do but they cost a lot of money and to use them it's a lot of money) so all the clothes are air dried.
How I get around: well, the first way is by my good 2 feet, they haven't let me down yet. If we need to travel inside of San Felipe or a city close to here they have taxis, colectivo (that's Spanish, I don't know what it means in English), and buses. If we need to get to Santiago we use those buses that are huge, they hold 45 people.
There is the run down of my life right now.

Experiencing the Earthquake

Hey everyone,

Okay this weekend has been crazy here. We really haven't done any work. We were told to stay in our houses all day Saturday, that was super boring. But I will tell you the story of the earthquake.

It was at 3:30 in the morning and I was asleep and I felt my bed shaking so I woke up and I just thought it was another small earthquake because we have had a lot of little ones. I have been in like 2 okay size earthquakes and then this one that was really big. Well, I yelled at my companion and after he woke up it wasn't shaking really bad and then like 10 seconds later it went nuts. I jumped out of my bed to get somewhere and then my companion yelled "let's get outside", I wasn't thinking, I was just freaking out! And on top of that, I couldn't find my keys so I was running around my house during the earthquake. Man, I haven't heard anything so loud in my life. After that we didn't have any light so we found our flashlights. And we still don't have electricity in our house - so we are living off candles and it's pretty fun. It's not that bad. The damage to my city of San Felipe is like nothing, there were some buildings in the center that had damage and that's it, and a lot of people don't have electricity.

I am okay

Hi everyone,

Hey I am okay, I am in the north part of Chile so nothing really bad happened but I was in a 7.2 earthquake. That was pretty nuts, I was sleeping when it hit so it was a fun wake up call. It only lasted for 20 seconds. But I am doing good, we keep feeling little earthquakes here and there. But I am doing good and I will be on tomorrow so look for more tomorrow.

Love Elder Christensen

From President May

Dear Parents of the CSN Mission,

Since the incredible earthquake we experienced in Santiago, Chile yesterday, we finally have a stable internet for now, so we will attempt a massive advisory to all of you, regarding your sons and daughters who are serving as missionaries here:

·ALL of the missionaries in our mission are accounted for, safe, and healthy.

8.8 Earthquake in Chile

McKade's grandpa called the Church Office Building and found out that all the missionaries in the Chile Santiago North mission are safe and accounted for. McKade's former companion, Elder Davies just called me to tell me that he had spoken with many people in San Felipe, and everything is okay there. There is no damage to buildings or anything. I've heard from many friends and family this morning, all concerned for McKade and the people of Chile. One of the main reasons I am doing this blog is so that it can be printed for McKade to have after his mission. Because of that, I am including some of the messages I've received so that he can have them...