week ending 7.31.11

 Hey everyone,

How are you all doing? I am really good, the week we had was really good! We had 5 investigators that went to church and they are all progressing towards a baptism. The Aguilar Family are doing really well, the dad doesn't want anything but that's okay for now, he will see the change in the life of his family and we will see after. But the mom and daughters are really excited for their baptism.

 The other people that we are working with are Victor and Javiera they are brother and sister and their mom likes that we are teaching her kids and she wants to see how the church is.

Francisco is a young man that is 15 years old and he is looking for a church to join and he has prayed and feels that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. He is going to make a lot of friends in the church I am really excited for him!

 So today a couple of us are going to have a BQ and we are going to fly Chilean kites and play ping pong! I am really excited to eat some meat baby haha. 

I am doing good and I am really excited for this week that is to come! I love you all and we will be talking!

love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 7.17.11

Hey everyone,

This week was a great week, even though we had a lot of rain and I got all wet - I lived and didn't get sick. haha. The best part of it all is that we had 5 people come to church with us and 3 of them were able to stay for the whole thing and they loved it! Their names are Fresia(mom), Maria Jose(daughter), Jenifer(daughter). They are amazing. We are going to be working a lot with them and I would love if you all could put them in your prayers so they can accept to be baptized and that satan won't have power over them. And that their dad's heart will open up to the message. Thanks.

 The others that went to church were Margarita and Gisela. They are sisters that are super amazing. Gisela is 21 years old and was really excited to go to church and she went with a dress! That was sweet! I can see her going on a mission and doing a lot of good so pray for her as well please! 

Last night we had changes, well we didn't have changes, but the meaning of that is that I will be ending my mission with Elder Maigua. Yup, that's right, I am on my last change(6 weeks). More than that, I am working really hard I need to complete my mission goals and I am really close to doing it! I am really happy that I was able to stay here to work with the people that we are working with.

I have a example of a young man that is amazing! His name is Isreal, he has 18 years old and will be going on the mission and he likes going out with us. Last night the Chilean soccer team played in the Cup of America and he loves soccer but he went out with us to work and we had a lot of success. Some one turned on the TV while we were in the house and instead of staying, he was like, "let's go Elders," and got us out of there. I love that kid! I am so happy that I have the oppertunity to get to know him and work with him! And another time while we were working everything we had planned was falling through and he was like, "don't get down Elders - we are going to find someone!" And at 9 at night someone let us in and when we left the house he ran and jumped on us and was like, " that was worth it!" He is amazing!

That's all i got for this week! Have a good week and thanks for reading and to the people that wrote me! Love you all!

love,

Elder Christensen

{with Elder Brunt}

week ending 6.26.11

Hey everyone,

 

This morning I was thinking about my mission and my life and I was like what am I doing? And how am I ending my mission and how will it help me with my life? So I started thinking how hard am I working and where is my heart in all of my thoughts, baseball, home, girls, the mission, where? That's what I want to figure out here soon and start working harder then ever but I need my heart here, because that is how I am going to work hard.

 

We have been trying to find new people to teach because we have been losing all of the people that we have been teaching. We have two young people that are really interested in learning more. Their names are Alexandra and Erasmo. They are dating and have plans to get married here soon and they are super cool. All Erasmo talks about is Disneyland and how he wants to go there so bad. haha. But they are really awesome.

 

The weather here is so cold and its kicking my butt!  I am so cold. But I am getting over it and just working through the cold.

 

Thank you all that wrote and have a good week everyone!  I hope that this week is the best one for you! Love you all!

 

love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 4.17.11

 Hey everyone,

Well this week was a week full of things! We had a lot to do! We planned the baptism of Marcela and it turned out so great! It was a baptism to remember - not going to lie - I was like it's going to be interesting. But it was so amazing! Danilo, my convert, did the baptism but I went in with them to help carry her into the font and hold her in the water. We didn't fill the font all the way up and we had her sit down while we did it and it was sweet. I held her legs down and Danilo did the baptism.

But something that was really funny, we sang I Am A Child of God in English but we forgot the last part of the last line and we just stopped singing it was bad and really funny. haha. Well, something else cool happened... Danilo was called to be the president of the Young Men. That man is doing so well, they are planning on going to the temple in a year. So, yes mom we will be coming back to Chile next year so work on your Spanish! haha.

We also had a sweet activity in the church that we planned and ran. We bought 12 cakes and played games and shared a small message, and all the members and investigators loved it. haha. One of the games that we played was where we made teams and put them in a line and the last person had a small balloon hanging from their pants and the person in front is the only person that can grab the balloon. Oh man, they were throwing everyone around people ended up on the floor and it was so funny! I am going to do that for a activity when I get home. haha.

We also did some service for a member and we painted. We painted a wall then when we were alone I painted my name on the wall so they will alway remember me. They were not mad but they were like, "Sweet! Now Helmick you do it too!" haha. But the family we did it for is a family that I love, they are so sweet I am going to be sad when I have to go. But that is the mission. haha.

This week we have  a lot of plans to do a lot of good stuff! Please put us in your prayers that we find that family that is waiting for us please. Thank you. Have a good week and I love you all! It's a joy writing you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 2.6.11

Hey everyone!

This week started off so great! We started to find so many people and our investigators were so excited for everything getting ready to go to church. Man, when that happens you feel so happy and all you can do is get on your knees and give thanks for all you have to our Heavenly Father. We are teaching two different families that are just great! One is Cristian and Stephanie and they are so great, they have talked with missionaries before but they are ready this time. Cristian told us he wants to get baptized and he is ready. His wife was like "I am a little bit tougher than him." I laughed when she told us that and we asked her why and she gave us a lot of different excuses. But we are working with them and they will be progressing here soon! The other family is great we just got to know them.

Something really amazing happened, I got to witness Danilo getting the priesthood! I was so happy watching that and he is so happy and all. I am really happy for them and I am planing to come back to Chile to see their sealing in the temple! =)

We went to lunch one day with a new family that lives in our branch and they live in this part that is really rich. When the husband (not a member) came to pick us up he was white and had a deep voice, I was like your not Latin. haha. He is from Canada and is really funny, he was crackin' jokes the whole time. I loved it. But this sister is so great she is like I am going to spoil you guys even if you don't want it, so I asked for Life cereal. haha. The cool thing was that they have two baseball gloves and Elder Stark and I threw a little and I let one go really hard and broke one of the gloves. Know what that means? I still got it. haha. It felt good - but I felt bad about the glove and he said it's all good and that they don't get used. haha.

So that is a little about my week. I really don't have anything else to say except have a good week and I am glad to hear from you all! Talk to you later!

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

week ending 10.24.10

{Ivan and his son Gaspar, they are such a cute family}

Hey everyone,

This week went good for us. We had people go to Church and Constanza, Camila´s sister, is going to be baptized this coming Sunday so we are really excited for her. We also have seen some crazy weather here - it goes from being super hot to super cold.

We found a family of like 3 families. haha.  They are from Peru and they are so cool. I talked about them last week when they took the photos of us. haha. Well, 2 of the daughters went to church and they loved it and they have read a part in the Book of Mormon and prayed and they feel good about all of it. I haven't really gotten to know them as well as I would have liked but we are going to, and we'll help them find their answer about the truth that we are teaching them. I love finding people that just take everything in just like they have known it before, that's when you know that they have been prepared for the message.

We have been teaching Constanza a lot - trying to help her get ready and in the same time we are trying to help the mom and dad get married so they can be sealed as a family. Man, by the time I am done helping people get married I will be so good at it, I´ll be ready for after the mission. haha. So Constanza is doing really good, last night we asked the questions that they ask in the interview for baptism and she passed but that was only a practice. The real thing will be this week and after she is all ready to become baptized. So if you could put constanza in your prayers to help her keep praying and progressing, that would be amazing. Thanks.

Something that I have been learning through study and the spirit and other things is the justice. The justice is something that we cannot get away from but someone helped us so we can get help through it. Christ is the only person that could have paid the price to satisfy the demands of the law. But the help from Christ doesn't come free, we need to do our part by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we do not live the gospel we have to pay for all our sins to satisfy the justice and that means we cannot live with God or Christ or our families so we need do all we can to live the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this is true and I know that we can have happiness through Christ, to have happiness is the purpose of life (2 Nephi 2:25). I love you all and thanks for all your support.  Have a good week and talk to you next week!

love,

Elder Christensen.

{the Palomo family, they wash my clothes every week and they help us out so much. love them}

{the Ramirez family, we made pancakes with them last p-day it was fun.}

week ending 9.20.10

Hey everyone,

Well this week was a good week for us!  We had a great time because Chile was in party mode!  haha. They celebrated 200 years of independence so they gave everyone 4 days off of work and all that fun stuff. Our ward had a sweet activity that we went to and the pictures are from the activity - and yes, I had a good time. The one where I have flour all over my face is from a race where we had to spin 20 times then run to a chair and thread a needle and then run to another chair and drink/eat this drink they have here - it's call "mote con huecillos" it's really good.  The next chair had a bowl with water and a spoon that we had to pull out with our mouth then the last chair they had a coin hidden under a pillow of flour and we had to get it out with our mouth and my mouth was full of flour - but on the good side I won! haha. It was super fun.
After the games we went inside to watch a show that they had planned and they had all types of dances from Chile and they were really cool.  I took a lot of pics and videos so it was a good night for my camera.  I want to come back to Chile and learn the dance that they have here and dance them of course.  haha.

 So about the people we are teaching, we have been teaching the guy from Austria still and he is super cool, he prays in German and I have no idea what he is saying - haha. but it's cool, it's fun to teach him and he loves the church and keeps coming to church every Sunday, he will be getting baptized next month. Then we have a family of 4 - a mom and 3 kids (22,15,12).  They are really amazing, they are passing for some tests right now but they are ready to hear the gospel so I am really happy that we found them and have the chance to teach them. We are also teaching a little 9 year old girl - her mom is a member and they want to go to church and this little girl is like a sponge, she just takes everything in and understands everything. That's what you look for on the mission. haha.

Well if you could put Karl, from Austria. Carolina, Carolina, son, Monseratt, the family, and Camila the 9 year old in your prayers it would be great! Thanks.

Love you all - have a good week!

Love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 9.5.10

Hey everyone!

Well this week was a crazy one, every day felt like it went by really fast.  I would wake up and then the next thing I knew I was in my bed again going to sleep. The time is starting to go really fast and I am not liking it to much. If it stays like this I will be home before I know it and i will be happy,sad. haha. But we had a good week, 2 days I wasn't with Elder Nielsen.  We have changes for a day and its cool to get to know other missionaries, but every time Elder Nielsen and I would get back together we would through a small party, it's great.

One of the things that happened this week is that Cristian turned 28 so we had a BBQ for lunch with him and his family. All the photos that I sent to you guys was at the BBQ.  The one with me is the Pot leaves that they have in their house.  They aren't going to use them but I was going to put a card saying break in case of emergencies, but I was lazy. 

haha. They got CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooooooooooooooooooo. Now we are on the road to a eternal family - so happy for them!  They are doing good and making friends in the ward so we are really happy with what is going on and how everything is working out with them. So keep putting them in your prayers so they can make it to the temple in one year!

With Leti and Guillermina, they are doing great and going to church.  The only thing is that Guillermina doesn't believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  We found out why and its because she doesn't want to get baptized if she gets an answer. But we helped her see that it's really important that she gets baptized so she is going to pray again to see if Joseph Smith was a Prophet. So please put her in your prayers that she can get an answer from God. thanks.

So I had a question and I learned something this week...

•Why was it important that Christ had to bleed his own blood?

(to let you know I studied this in Spanish so I am translating from Spanish into English so lets hope it works. haha)

 Matt 26:28--- this is my blood, bleed for the remission of sins.

that led me to a different scripture in the bible in Exodus:

Exodus 24:3-8---Christ had to bleed for our sins has a symbol for sacrifice, because in the law of Moses the people had to do blood sacrifices to receive forgiveness. they had to do that because Jehovah made that convent with them.

then in Hebrews 9:15-22 it teaches us and says " with out bleeding of blood there is no remission of sins." I know that Christ lives and that he paid for my sins and all the sins of the world and I would do anything for him to show him how much I love him. That is my testimony!

Love you all!  Have a good week!

Love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 5.9.10

Hey everyone,

First off I want to say, ¡Feliz dia de la Madre a todas! I am sure everyone understands that, if not that's too bad. lol. Well, I guess this was the best Mother's Day for my mom and family because they got to talk to me. I was like - you talked to me every other Mother's Day. Then I remembered that we hadn't talked for a long time. It was a good answer. haha. Well it was great to talk to my family and tell them hi. It's a lot easier and faster then this stupid emailing stuff but I am grateful that I get to email every week. 

Well this week was good. Carlos got confirmed and seems really happy so all we have to do is help him stay strong in the church and not lose his testimony. But he is a fun kid.

Last week we have been teaching a few people, and one of them that is progressing well is a family of 3, Carlos and Sofia and thier 3 month old baby girl Laura. Laura loves us so much and she always has a smile on, she is so cute I hope that we can help them get to church. They love talking with us and learning but they can't go to church because they have small store they own and they don't want to close it to come to church.  That's what we have been working on with them so if any one has an idea let me know. And please add them in your prayers. 

This week we had our mission conference and it was really good. We heard 4 talks, the son of President May came down with is wife and kids and we heard from them, the wife doesnt speak Spanish so a missionary translated for her and it was funny but she had a great message. And then we heard a lot about being obedient and it made me think about the things I could change to help me be more obedient, so we will see if I can change them. haha. Well I loved this week - I learned a lot and I loved talking to my mommy! lol

Thanks for all the prayers and support! Love you all!

Elder Christensen

week ending 3.28.10

Hey everyone,

Yes! I found a computer that let me upload photos. It's a good thing too, because we went on a hike the other day. It was really fun, but there was one thing that wasn't fun that happened to me. We were going down the hill and there are a lot of cactus and I slipped a little and I got cactus spikes in my butt. Oh man, that was something I could have done without. But all in all, I had a great time.


Okay we got a new Elder this week. His name is Elder Jensen and he's from Sandy, Utah. He came out of the MTC speaking really good, he doesn't have any fear to do anything. But it's a lot harder to train than I thought, even though there are 2 of us doing it. But we are having a great time. I think I hear this from Elder Jensen every 10 mins. "they talk so fast! how do you understand that?" and then he told us that the first couple of days all the sentences sound like one word, but now he is picking out more and more words. He is getting better everyday. It's cool to watch someone grow in the mission and to have a hand in it. I hope I can help him more and more everyday.

week ending 3.14.10

Hey everyone,

Well this week was super good. We had a baptism. Yup, David got baptized! Yes! It was a 3 almost 4 month process. We never gave up on him we just kept working and working. At times I was like we need to just let him go and move on. But every time we went and taught him he was doing better and was reading and praying so we didn't drop him and then one day he said he wanted to get baptized and my heart jumped for joy. I didn't know what to think but I was super happy.

And then after a long fight he got baptized and he asked me to do it and I was like I would be honored to do it. Now he is happy and he said something really funny in the bathroom after the baptism, he said, "soy un santo do los santos de los ultimos dias" (I am a saint of those latter day saints.) I was like, "yup, that's right!" He is so great.

week ending 2.7.10

Hey everyone,

Well, this photo is of me and Elder Stark doing some service for a family. We ripped grass out of this garden for 2 and a half hours it was really fun. Not only did we destroy the ground, we dug up onions and ate them. The first one we ate was so sweet and tasty but after that they tasted bad. The lady that lived there could smell us really bad, I just laughed. It was a good time.

This photo is of Luisa and us being little kids, it was really fun. Luisa got the Holy Ghost this week and she started to cry after she got it. I can't believe the change she has made. She went from having no spirit at all to just glowing with the spirit. I can't wait for her to grow strong in the church.

week ending 1.10.10

Hey everyone,

Sorry about last week the computer was really stupid.

New Years Eve: First off I went to sleep at 11:30 so I really didn't do anything for New Years Eve but I was really sleepy so I wanted to sleep. lol. The best New Years yet.

The day of New Years, we were trying to contact people but lets just say most were sleeping or really drunk. Well, we were walking down this street and we saw a taxi driver helping a drunk guy into his car. The driver asked if we would help him take him somewhere, and we said sure. While in the car the drunk guy opened a beer outside of the car and the beer flowed in to my face. It was pretty gross. And when we got him out, his hands were covered in beer and it got all over Elder Davies. So we went home and washed up a little. It was funny.

week end 12.6.09

hey everyone,

today is the start of my 2nd change, (a change is every 6 weeks). and i am still in San Felipe. I am so happy i am staying here for another change, because we have so many good investigators up here and i hope have a lot of baptizums this month. oh and it doesn't feel anything like christmas here, seeing that it is 96 degrees plus everyday.
I dont know what i like more dying of heat or frezzzzing, and everyone tells me that it is going to get even hotter here, all i say is "oh great!" but i love it here i am so happy and just loving the mission.

okay so this week was a great week, we found 6 new investigators. and all of them seem like they are ready to hear the gospel i just hope i can tell them about it in a way they can understand.

week end 11.29.09

hey everyone,

so this week has been a great week! i have been able to speak spanish okay and at least tell people what i want to share, i never thought i could.

Elder Corbrigde of the 70 came to my ward this sunday and shared an amazing testimony and it was like the only thing i understood. he was really nice and he was happy to see the missionaries smiling and happy. it was a cool experience.

this week we had an talent show in the ward that i am in and it was way funny, i have videos of most of the acts and i have video of the things i was in. oh man it was so fun and i had a great time, but it took up 4 hours of one of our days so that really hurt us with the work but i am trying to say its okay lol. i loved it and it was a good stress reliever.