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 6.12.11

Hey everyone,

 

My companion and I had a good week!  We found a lot of people and I feel so blessed. I think the Lord is telling me that I have to work harder than I have in my life right now and he is giving me a really big chance to do a lot of good work. We also taught a girl her name is Nataly and she accepted to be baptized in July and she is really excited, we are really happy for her. We also found a family that the mom is a member and no one else is and they loved talking with us and want us to keep going over. I know that that family will be a great family in the gospel and they will be baptized next month.

 

More than that, nothing really happened that cool, but there is a kid named Isreal that works with us and he is really cool. He will be coming home in a week from school and wants to work a lot with us, so I am really pumped for that! Well, I love you all and have a good week!

 

love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 5.1.11

{with Elder Tialavia}

 Hey everyone,

Well, this week was a good one. Elder Evans and I worked really hard and we had some success. We are teaching a family of 4 and they accepted a baptismal date for the 22 of May. Their names are Miguel (Micheal) and Marlene and they have 2 sons. They are super great and I would love if you could put them in your prayers and ask God that he helps them receives the answer that they are looking for. They want to get baptized but they still haven't gotten their answer, so please put them in your prayers.

When I went to church this Sunday the members received me well and they are really nice. I am really excited to be here. They have a lot of good plans and ideas that I know will help out the members and investigators. haha. And it was different because there are a lot of people in this ward, my last branch had not that many, so I was happy to see it and shocked. haha.

My health is good and I am really excited for this next week, because I know we will have a lot of work to do and a lot of success too. So please put me in your prayers as well so I can do what the Lord needs me to do. Thank you.

Have a good week and talk to you next week.

love,
Elder Christensen

{with Elder Evans}

{Danilo came to see me}

week ending 3.27.11

 Hey everyone,

This Sunday was good for us with 2 baptisms. Their names are Guisselle and Jordan. They are sister and brother and they were so happy to be baptized. We have been working with them so much and so hard and we got them ready in time haha. The day when they were going to have the interview to see if they were ready was nuts! We went past their house to take them to the church a little before 4 and they weren't ready and Guisselle wasn't there. Then we went to the church to wait for them and they didn't come so we cleaned the Font and then we called them at 4:45 and nothing. So we went to their house to see what was going on and they said their mom was sick. But in the end they came and they were ready and all was well. haha. But it didn't help the stress level. haha.

Now we are on a mission to help a kid named Eric and find more people to teach. I am ready to do what the Lord needs me to do! I hope.  haha. We have been working really hard and we are seeing a lot of fruits, and I am happy about that.  Now I want to see more so I have to work harder, so if you could add me in your prayers I need a little more help this week, and for Eric as well. Thank you.


Well I am really pumped to watch conference this weekend and I wish I could just watch it but no I have to worry about getting people there. Don't get me wrong, this is the best thing in the world for the new people to see so I am going to make sure that a lot of people get there. haha. But I really need some help from the leaders of the church! haha don't we all?!

That's what I have for you all this week! I am really happy for the friends and family that I have. I love you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 3.13.11

Last night was a tough night for the 4 missionaries that lived in our house. We had changes and the changes that happened were not what we wanted. Well, Elder Stark goes home today (he's standing next to me), his companion Elder Poole got sent to a different sector and my companion, Elder Mendez (on the far left) was sent to another sector. I stayed and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Helmick. He is from Oregon and was in the army before the mission. He is a great guy from what I know and it will be fun working with him. I continue as district leader of 2 sisters haha.

 This photo is of the sisters that are in my district, Sister Agilar is from Guatemala and Sister Martinez is from Mexico.
 
Well now that I have to take over 2 sectors we have a lot to do.  We gained a lot of people that Elder Stark and Elder Poole were teaching so we have a lot of work to do. And if you ask if I am happy about the changes, I would say no. I didn't want this to happen but it's what needed to happen. So I have to live by this saying, "Come what may, and love it." So what ever happens, I have to love it and just work my little butt off.

On the bright side we are still working with Marcela and she is doing really good - especially with quitting smoking and she feels so good about herself now. I am so happy for her. We have also found a lot of other people that we are really excited to teach and I will be letting you know how all of this new change stuff goes next week.

Thank you all for your emails and your love and support. Have a good week and I love you all!

love,
Elder Christensen

{with my new companion, Elder Helmick.}

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 12.19.10

Hey Everyone,

Well today was a sad but a happy day! I got a new companion and he is from Mexico.  His name is Elder Mendez. He is really funny and I think we will get along just fine. haha. So we got together around 1:30 today and its only 3:45 here and we already have been making jokes and stuff. I hope he can help me loosen up a little, I have been really stressed with the work but the work always goes on and we will see fruits here soon.

Yesterday we went to see a family that we contacted in the street and when we got there they let us in and we started to teach them and they were just sucking it all up, it was sweet! haha. They were so excited and they are going to pray about Joseph Smith and they said they want to get baptized! And we will be doing everything to help them, they will be going on a trip here soon but that wont stop us. haha. Their names are Danelo (dad,22), Violeta (mom,22), Ben (son,almost 2). They are awesome.

So something I learned this week is that I need to learn more about love with patience. When I lose one of these things it's all downhill from there.  So if anyone has a thought or anything to help a poor missionary out I would love for your help. One thing that I learned is that the prayers helps out so much in any situation that you are in, even when you lose your patience. But the thing that we need to do to have love and be patient is have the Holy Ghost, and how do we get that? We are obedient. So almost everything comes down to being obedient.

Thanks to all that wrote me and i hope that everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you all and have a great Christmas!

love,
Elder Christensen

week ending 8.1.10

Hey everyone,

 

I was having a good week and then I got sick and I was told to stay in the house. So that brought my spirits a little down, but I was talking to a member one night and she was asking some questions. I started to receive thoughts that weren't mine, I knew that they came from my Heavenly Father.  I told her that when we are going through hard times we need to be happy, because, when we are sad, satan is attacking us because he knows that we are doing something good. He is going to do everything he can to bring us down and not enjoy what we are doing. So next time you are having a hard time, go to our Heavenly Father and ask for strength to overcome satan and enjoy the good things in life. And then another thing came into my head - it was a scripture from the Bible, James 2:26.  It talks about that our faith is dead if we don't have works.  Works are those little things we do, for example, pray every day, read the scriptures, go to church, follow the commandments, try and become like Christ every day, set goals, forgive others, and most of all forgive ourselves. If we can do some of those little things everyday we will have stronger faith. I know this because I have been putting this in practice and it has been working for me. I know that this is true, I know the Church of Jesus Christ is the true church on the earth. I will tell anyone that, that I come in contact with. I love my Savior.

 

love,

Elder Christensen

week ending 5.23.10

Hey everyone,

Well last night we had changes but we didn't change so Elder Ojeda and I are together again. Oh yeah man (a kid in our ward says that all the time.). And I am excited to work with him again, I feel good about this change.

This week was a tough one for us, Elder Ojeda got sick and we couldn't work. I tried calling every person in our ward and even another secter and I couldn't find anyone that wanted or could work with me. So I sat in my house reading, yes reading for all the people that know me - that is something I didn't do a lot before the mission, because I didn't like it.

But now I love to read and I read like 5 to 6 hours each day, and because of all that reading I got to finish the Book of Mormon in English, yeah it's about time now I am studing all in Spanish. I have put my English books away and am only studing in Spanish . Oh man, now my head will hurt 2 times as much. haha. But I love it, I am trying to only speak Spanish and just forget English, so if I can do it, it will be interesting. =)

I was reading in the Liahona of Feb. 2010 and I read a talk about "what we should do if we don't know what to do" (something like that). And one part that really stuck out to me is when it talked about "not knowing something is not an excuse for not doing it." like some of the rules in the mission or commandments, we might not know why we do them but we do know that we need to do them. Just because we don't know why we do things doesnt make it okay not to do them. So that is going to be my saying now, I hope I can live it.
Read the February 2010 Liahona; click here.

I love you all and thanks for all the help you give me.

Have a good week.

love,

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.

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 11.15.09

okay this week was great!

TUESDAY
i went on a division with a elder quispe from Peru and he is so funny. it is a biking mission and i was ridding through the middle of farms and almost took out a cow, man he was lucky he got out of my way. i also rode through about 30 goats, man i was thinking what in the world is going on. and where in the world am i? but just riding through the country side was so cool and pretty. there are farms that go up the side of mountains and i was thinking what in the world are they thinking, its a mountain for crying out loud. lol. but we were teaching a lesson and there was a cat next to me and i looked over near the end of the lesson and the cat had given birth right next to me on this sofa, i was stunned. lol. and the ride home through the fields at night with a little light on the front of my bike was a little crazy. but it was fun. and i had to speak spanish because he didn't really speak english but he would try and it was funny to hear him try to speak english. that was my fun day.

WEDNESDAY
nothing really cool happened besides that we walked for about 3 hours straight getting out to one area of our mission and tracting and walking back, it was the hardest thing ever, but my feet felt great which was a plus.

THURSDAY
nothing too fun happened just worked hard.

FRIDAY
same as thurs. just worked hard and had a good time.

SATURDAY
i went on another division and the elders name is Hoyos he is from Colombia. he is one of the zone leaders in my zone. he is a great guy, i was making him laugh so hard. but we worked so hard! the sector that he is in goes from san felipe to argentina, it is so big and we don't have bikes. but we went to a part that is full of flites (gangsters) but nothing happened lol. this little place is were the jail is at and it is a pretty poor area but we talked to a lady that got baptized on sunday as well, she is an amazing lady, and her daughter can play the digeri doo, well i don't know how to spell it but the thing from australia. after that we got in a taxi, okay there are so many taxis and buses here it is nuts, they cost about 600 pesos for one person and that is 1.20 dollars and it doesn't matter how far. but we traveled for 15 mins and it was weird hearing rap from america. well not really because music from america is everywhere here.

okay the best day of the week, SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!
i woke up and got all my clothes for the baptism ready and we left the house at 9am and that's when i started to memorize the baptismal prayer and i was memorizing it from 9am to 1pm which was the baptism. oh my gosh i was so nervous and i dont know why. but i got to baptize the mom and son, it was so amazing! i was so happy all day long. i never knew how happy i would be after a baptism. i was so blessed to have my first baptism be a whole family. it was so cool! =)
okay, later in the day it was funny, some teenagers started to throw stuff at us. (the kids in one area of my sector don't like us at all and they yell things and throw things but i don't care). my companion caught one of the things they threw at us and acted like he was going to throw it back and it scared them and they said "gringos can catch." it was funny. i caught everything they threw at me and just dropped it. but it was already the best day so they couldn't bring me down.
today the college in san felipe, their soccer team played for the national championship and won, on their way there they took out a power house college called colo-colo, it was a crazy day here. but not as crazy when they played for the championship and won it. everyone was going crazy. but it was so cool. now they get to go play all over south america.

well that was my week it was fun and the best one so far in my mission. well i hope everyone is doing good and i miss you all and love you all so much!

peace elder christensen

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