Week 11

(Comodoro Rivadavia Argentina Mission-And ye shall be my witnesses...unto the uttermost part of the Earth- Acts 1:8)

Madre y Amigos,

First I want give a HUGE Shout Out to all my SV bros who have or are prepping to join Colton and I as we continue the Good Fight. I heard for the class of 2016 we are officially at 100. I also wanna give a HUGE Shout Out to all who are going off to college. Good luck!  Its an honor to know you all.

"He who worries about calamities suffers them twice over." -Og Mandino 

That is the challenge for me right now. Worrying about things I can't control. Whether its things with investigators or things in my mind, or life in general that's always been my biggest challenge I think. But I am striving to get better each day and this mission is a huge help. 

I tried mate' and mate' cocido this week for the first time. Honestly, I'm not a fan (sorry dad) but I did get a River Mate cup since I'm now River. Vamos River!!  (According to my husband, the mate is the cup (traditionally made from a gourd) Yerba de Mate is an herbal tea that EVERYONE in Argentina drinks. The traditional way to drink it is to fill the mate with the herb then add boiling water and some sugar if desired. The bombilla is the straw you see Max holding next to the mate cup in the picture below. It acts as a strainer and lets you drink the tea. Traditionally people would sit in a circle and pass the Mate around, all drinking from the same "straw". It has been against the rules in Max's mission until the mission president change. Now they can drink it, but only in their apartment and not with a shared straw. Mate cocido is a much milder version cooked in a pot on the stove with less herb and then has milk added.  It is a huge part of Argentina culture, and I am glad Max gets to try it.)

I was walking through Centro with Elder Clark (Coach Hillyard's nephew) on Wednesday. A man on the corner saw us and yelled "Amigo!" We turned and he flipped us off haha. Sometimes I feel like I'm back on the football field when we are out here tracting. But I'm not worried about offensive linemen blindsiding me, its all the dogs. If there is a dog guarding a house and they have no fence, you need one of two things: a pocket full of rocks or really quick feet. It doesn't matter the size of the dog either. The big ones just try and maul you, while the little ones aim to tear your achilles tendon so then you can't run as they proceed to slowly eat you. It must be Gods way of keeping all us missionaries alert 24/7 outside the pension haha. 

This week, I want to challenge all of you to read Alma chapter 7. I've honestly never learned so much just sitting down and reading specific chapters of scripture. I am here to promise it will bless your life. 

Cristian, one of our investigators, we got him to come to an activity with us at the church Friday night. He had a baptism date but that fell through. He is 20 and smoked all the way to the church but that's okay, we are working on that.

It's really hard to do work here in the morning. Everyone is either gone doing their own work, or they sleep till 12 then make lunch once they get up. On Saturday at 11:20 AM, we had one lady we were contacting scream at us, "PLEASE, I'M SLEEPING!" It was a little funny yes. We taught Facundo this week also. We committed to a baptismal date in August so I hope it works out. He is 21 years old, the youngest of 3, and works with his dad. He does have a smoking problem so we are working with him too, but he is really cool. The Spanish is very very slowly progressing. I feel like I can speak okay, I just need to understand. 

Just trying to prep the Patagonia for a Temple one day at a time.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Monuments honoring those who fought in the Falkland Island War (Malvinas)

Max's River Mate

This weeks pictures from Hermano Marcos

We also received this nice letter from Max's new mission president:

Dear parents and family of Elder Christensen,

We are very happy to be the new Mission Presidents of the Comodoro Rivadavia Mission, and even happier to serve together with your dear son.  The Lord has called us to serve in this part of the world in this time for a reason:   We must build His Kingdom in this part of the Earth.

“…and ye shall be witnesses unto me… unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8)

 As Peter, we have left our nets to go and serve the Lord.

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mathew 4:19)

Thank you for sending to us a great fisher of men like your son to help the Lord to prepare this land of the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We love our missionaries and we are taking care of them like they would be our own children. We can hear your prayers in his favor.  We wish you can support him with your prayers and your letters or emails. He needs your support and love.  Thank you for sharing with us your most valued possession: your son.

With sincere love,

President and Sister Salerno

Interesting facts about the Presidents (I have edited this part to take out some of the personal information)…

They have one daughter who is married and one grandson.  President Salerno is a Pharmisist and also holds a MBA from BYU.  He speaks Spanish, English, Portuguese, and some French and Italian.  He likes music, video, computing, technology and especially playing with his grandson. Sister Salerno is an elementary teacher. She likes painting, cooking, doing genealogical research and above all, spending time with her family. They are from Buenos Aires.  Judging from all the callings listed they have dedicated their lives to serving in the church.

They are very happy to serve in the Comodoro Rivadavia Mission and help growing the Kingdom of God in the end of the world.

And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world Matthew 28:20