week 25

Mommy & Co.,

 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

-Jesus; John 10:11-18

I've learned that this week better than ever, just through reading and growing knowledge, that in this life we MUST remember that Jesus is OUR Good Shepherd. That He is Always here to help us in our greatest times of sorrow, to test us and help us grow, and then help us with that test or trial, to help us experience pure joy in this life when we need it most. My testimony of this has grown immensely. Not through a grand experience, but just those small things each and every day especially as we study and then search to find people to share our message with.

So yesterday we taught a new investigator named Alejandra. She lives with her mom and 2 kids. A few weeks ago, she just showed up randomly at the end of church and we had no clue who she was. We talked to her a little, but she wanted to talk to the Bishop and told us we could pass by later. We passed by this week but she wasn’t home. She came to church again yesterday. We ended up teaching her about the Restoration and giving her a Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson she broke down sobbing and told us she didn’t have a job or food for her kids. She said one of her daughters ate for the first time in a week yesterday. She had come to the church to find help both spiritually and in life also. So now us as missionaries and a few members who have fellowshipped her in the ward, will be working hard with her as long as I am here. We will both teach her, and help her have food for her family. It’s a blessing to try and bless people like that.

Transfers were announced Friday and here we go again. Elder Fereirra is going to the other Zone in Comodoro to finish his last 6 weeks in the mission, and another Elder that happens to be from Paraguay also, is coming up from Puerto Williams which is the literal LITERAL tip of the world, sitting lower than Ushuaia in Chile. So this will be my 4th transfer with my 4th different companion haha. I am also going to be Senior Companion. This Elder also has 2 more transfers in the mission than I do.  The Elders in the office with President told me that he is sending him to me to help him improve. I haven't done anything different, but apparently Presidente Salerno saw tons of improvement in Elder Fereirra this transfer when he was with me and was really happy and he wants this Elder with me to see if I can help him too I guess. No clue when he is getting here but it should be interesting. Sounds like Elder Harris is coming up from Ushuaia to my Zone also!! If it’s the Elder Harris I know then he is going to LOVE his new comp haha it is Elder Carasco who I’ve talked about in my past emails. He is a GREAT missionary and a better person so it will be great for him.  And it will just be way cool to see him again and have him around like old times. My 4th transfer, with my 4th different comp, and my 4th Latino who doesn’t know English haha. It is a blessing though for sure.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 24

Mommy & Co.,

 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

 17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

-Jesus; John 10:11-18

I've learned that this week better than ever, just through reading and growing knowledge, that in this life we MUST remember that Jesus is OUR Good Shepherd. That He is Always here to help us in our greatest times of sorrow, to test us and help us grow, and then help us with that test or trial, to help us experience pure joy in this life when we need it most. My testimony of this has grown immensely. Not through a grand experience, but just those small things each and every day especially as we study and then search to find people to share our message with.

So yesterday we taught a new investigator named Alejandra. She lives with her mom and 2 kids. A few weeks ago, she just showed up randomly at the end of church and we had no clue who she was. We talked to her a little, but she wanted to talk to the Bishop and told us we could pass by later. We passed by this week but she wasn’t home. She came to church again yesterday. We ended up teaching her about the Restoration and giving her a Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson she broke down sobbing and told us she didn’t have a job or food for her kids. She said one of her daughters ate for the first time in a week yesterday. She had come to the church to find help both spiritually and in life also. So now us as missionaries and a few members who have fellowshipped her in the ward, will be working hard with her as long as I am here. We will both teach her, and help her have food for her family. It’s a blessing to try and bless people like that.

Transfers were announced Friday and here we go again. Elder Fereirra is going to the other Zone in Comodoro to finish his last 6 weeks in the mission, and another Elder that happens to be from Paraguay also, is coming up from Puerto Williams which is the literal LITERAL tip of the world, sitting lower than Ushuaia in Chile. So this will be my 4th transfer with my 4th different companion haha. I am also going to be Senior Companion. This Elder also has 2 more transfers in the mission than I do.  The Elders in the office with President told me that he is sending him to me to help him improve. I haven't done anything different, but apparently Presidente Salerno saw tons of improvement in Elder Fereirra this transfer when he was with me and was really happy and he wants this Elder with me to see if I can help him too I guess. No clue when he is getting here but it should be interesting. Sounds like Elder Harris is coming up from Ushuaia to my Zone also!! If it’s the Elder Harris I know then he is going to LOVE his new comp haha it is Elder Carasco who I’ve talked about in my past emails. He is a GREAT missionary and a better person so it will be great for him.  And it will just be way cool to see him again and have him around like old times. My 4th transfer, with my 4th different comp, and my 4th Latino who doesn’t know English haha. It is a blessing though for sure.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 23

Mom & All,

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still." -Chinese Proverb 

This week actually went by pretty fast, but honestly it is the work that is a little slow. We can't find Flavia, our one progressing investigator, to teach and her friend Javier who was baptized just 4 months ago and introduced her to us, wont answer his phone when we call and has stopped coming to church. Before I got here he was super inactive. I arrived and we sat down and talked with him about coming to church, and he started coming again! He even came to conference with us which was really cool. But as I said he didn't come last week. So I've been kinda sad about those 2. We did a TON of contacting and had a Tsunami (when missionaries from surrounding areas come tract for the day in their area and help find people to teach) in our area and everything. We found 2 new investigators and are going to visit them this week.

Our zone had 5 baptisms Saturday and that was really cool. So our Zone has 6 baptisms this transfer and we still have one week left and are looking at 2 more this coming Saturday. Because we have had so much success and worked so hard this transfer we get to have a Super pday this week.  Super P-Day is where our Zone gets a day to do whatever (within mission rules) and go wherever (within mission boundaries which is like half of Argentina haha) so it sounds like we may go to Rada Tilly again, have an Asado (Argentine Barbecue) and play a little Futbol. So Something like that will happen Wednesday but he told us just to write today. 

Yesterday was Mothers Day here in Argentina, and ironically the Bishop wanted me to give a talk. So I pretty much just had to re-write my Farewell talk in Castellano and change a few things and it went well haha. I guess people really like me talking on "Dia de la Madre." I want to again thank my Mommy for all she`s done and continues to do for me. I also wanna thank all the Moms back home I was able to know, for all you guys did and gave me as well. Thank you for your friendship, for raising your kids as amazing friends and examples for me, and for treating me like one of your own every time I was in your home. It is amazing the people I was able to grow up and mature with and around. 

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 22

Mommy & Co.,

First, a few more birthday Shout Outs to Grandpa this last week, and to my AMAZING Mommy on Saturday!! Mom, it is truly an honor to have been raised by you and called your son. I know I never would have played football or be where I'm at in life in general if it wasn't for you (and Dad too haha). Its obvious I'm the person I am today because of the people who molded me and supported me from the jump. Just for carrying the title of my Mom, for that alone I could never repay you. That's not even with all the hardships, struggles, and tears it took to raise and provide for me alone. So I honestly cant imagine doing it with 5 of us haha. You truly are the greatest blessing Jessica, Nicole, Caleb, Brandon, or I could EVER receive. I KNOW with everything I have that it was Gods plan for all of us to come together and be a family in this life, and for the Eternities. Thank You Mom. We could NEVER thank you enough.

"Mans mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Wednesday, we had divisions in our District. So I spent the whole day with Elder Holmes. He graduated class of 2015 from Fremont, played football, then studied at Weber state for a year. It was fun and pretty entertaining because he has been in the mission less time than I have, so you can just imagine us walking around trying to talk and work in my area all day haha. We both have Latino companions, so this was the first time we´d been with someone who speaks English. All I can say is the Gift of Tongues is a really REAL thing haha. It was crazy all the Castellano we know and understood that we didn't know we knew or understood before. This was the first time we didnt have someone with us who could answer or talk when we didn't understand. The Lord truly blesses us when we need it and when we have Faith. We had to use every bit of Castellano we knew and we survived and understood almost everything. But we also knew it wasn't us, just the Lord working through us. By night fall we were in his area, talking with one of his investigators, Luis, about the Plan of Salvation. I love testifying about that and how he can be with his Family forever. It was great and he even has a testimony that we are all children of our Heavenly Father, One Big Family. I have a feeling they will be able to baptize him. Just little incidents throughout my days here like that, strengthen my testimony that much more.

Friday we had lunch with Hermana Nanzy. She is an 80 yr old lady from Chile, not even 5 ft tall, has lived in Argentina for awhile and has been a member since ´79. We visit her quite a bit because she cant come to church because she has major bone pain and can barely walk at all, and her husband is almost deaf, but if you talk really loud he can hear you haha. She has an amazing testimony of the church. Anyways, she asked me why there aren't many "People of Color" serving missions, that I was the first one she had seen, and asked about the racism in my life. She told me that 20 yrs ago she was talking with a friend and told her that when a "colored" missionary comes, shes gonna "open the door right up and welcome them into her home because racism just doesn't make sense." And 20 yrs later, here I am haha. What a blessing it is to be here.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

  

week 21

Mom & All,

First, big BDay S/O to Lil bro Brandon Today! 12 years old. You are getting there big man. Also, S/O to Uncle Dave in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, I saw you yesterday haha!!

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for power equal to your tasks." -Phillips Brooks

I want to bare testimony of the power of Prayer. I didn't have a super life changing experience this week, but just the tiny things that happen each day for us as we work through prayer. Prayer is, honestly, just talking personally with the Greatest Friend we can have in this life, who is our Heavenly Father. I've been studying in "Jesus The Christ" by Elder James E. Talmage. It is crazy cool, deep Doctrine about the Life of Christ before, during, and after his life on Earth. And of course it talks a lot about prayer. One thing that jumped off the page to me was when Elder Talmage was describing prayer. He put it like this, "Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul...of contrition and pure desire." We always need to try and pray with real intent, but that really put it into perspective for me. Prayer shouldn't be just a habitual thing, but something we truly love doing to where our heart throbs and our soul yearns every time. Especially when we are praying just to say THANK YOU. We can all pray and yearn in faith during the hard times when we need something, but it is during the good times when we show God our true faith and love when we pray that same way just to say THANK YOU.

Thursday was pretty cool. We got to go to Rada Tilly and do a Tsunami (where a bunch of missionaries contact in one area) and it was way cool. It is about 30-45 min from Comodoro and sits right on the coast. The people there are SOOO RICH holy cow. I think in total we all counted only 2 houses that had 2 stories, the rest were taller and all of them were huge, like 4 houses every block haha. Some Elders took a pic of one house that was built and designed to look like a literal Castle from the outside. It wasn't a play place or anything, literally just another house on the block. For a lot of us it was really weird to think we were right next to the ocean and not in California.

Friday afternoon we had another Tsunami in Centro, just handing out cards inviting people to come watch Conference. I got paired with Elder Rosas from California. When we were handing out cards, we gave one to a man and he asked where we were from (found out he was a member of 40 yrs haha). We both said Los Estados Unidos. Then he says to us, "Well look at that. Un blanco y Un Negro. Black and White!!" Then he asked if I played basketball and I said yes and Football too. Then he turns to Elder Rosas and says, "Looks like there´s 2 Negros put into one." We all died laughing about the whole thing and he told us he´d see us the next day for conference. Good ole Argentina for ya. We aren't in the states anymore that's for sure. haha. Oh and Thursday night my Zone Leaders got held at gun point and robbed for all they had including $20,000 pesos. Vive Comodoro!

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Max also answered a few questions for me

Do you have any investigators yet?  Yes, we have one her name is Flavia and we´ve taught her the First lesson on Restoration.

How is the work in your area?  It is okay.  Like I said there are 300 less actives and such so now we need more investigators.

Is the ward still warming up to you and your companion?  No, I think they like us.  They are great with us.

Do they take good care of you? To you get invited to eat often?  Yes, They take great care of us and we eat lunch with members every day.

What is your favorite food?  My favorite food is milanesa, no doubt.

How are you getting along with your companion?  Yes, Elder Fereirra and I are homies.

What is your area like?  It looks like?  Is it a poorer area than your area in Rio Grande?  It is actually richer than Rio Grande and probably from what it sounds like the Richest part in Comodoro.

How big is it?  Do you still walk every where?  Our area is a lot smaller than Grande of course and yes we walk everywhere unless its to Centro then we take the bus as normal.

How may missionaries in your district/Zone/  do you see them every week?  6 in my district 16 in the zone and yes we see them a lot.

Is it easier to get into houses in this area?  It's not really any easier to get into houses.