Week 49

Mommy & All,

"They say that in life suffering is mandatory, but misery is optional. We all have problems, but we also have choices...being miserable requires effort, you have to ignore a lot of things..." -John Bytheway

This week was pretty good. The rains visited  Las Heras Wednesday and Thursday so we didn't get a lot done those days. We also couldn't travel to Perito because of all the rain and buses were getting stuck.

Monday we were in Pico Truncado with our District Leader and went to visit some of their investigators. We got to meet Milton, Noelia, and their 12 yr old daughter Frida. I think they are the coolest investigators I've met my whole mission haha. They love the missionaries and made us 100 hamburgers and just fed us a ton and are way nice. Milton and Noelia really really wanna get baptized, but they don't wanna get married. They just don't seem to understand why they have to be married before they get baptized, and they are just really comfortable how they are. They don't believe marriage is necessary to be an eternal family because even without it, they're a family right now. So we didn't know what else to share with them on marriage because they already know everything about that. So we just decided to show them the #PrinceofPeace video the church made for Easter and I saw it for the first time. It was AWESOME and really hit me. The thing that stuck out to me the most was the video called Jesus Christ the "King of Kings" of course, yet said that the only crown he ever wore was made of thorns. That for me really just says how great a sacrifice He made for each of us. As Elder Holland once called Him "the greatest life the world has ever known" only wore a crown of thorns. And He did it for us. The only perfect and most powerful being to ever walk the planet was never at the head of any army or country, never sought gold or riches or fame, but only to do the work of the one that sent Him who is our Heavenly Father. So if the best that the King of Kings got was a crown of thorns, then He really can do all things. And so can we when we humble ourselves like He did, try and change just a little everyday, and put ourselves on the path He wants. That's not always what we want of course, but its always whats best for us. That's what I shared with Milton and Noelia and they seemed to really like that because they invited us back haha.

We also got to see Adrian again. I was racking my brains on what we could share with him as well because he already know everything about the marriage before baptism as well. Then something different came to mind. We decided to share "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." That was the first time in my mission I've shared that with an investigator. We read through it with him and he really liked it. We didn't even ask him but he finally told us why him and his girlfriend have been fighting so much. They are both from way up north in Salta. Joana his girlfriend feels way lonely down here because her whole family is in Salta and she hardly gets to see them. So she wants to go back to Salta. The problem is there is no work up there which is why Adrian is here in the first place. So if they go back, he wont really have money to take care of them right now. So they always fight because she wants to back but he says no because there is no work. There's a reason that in 3 months here Ive only met 5 people who've said they were born in Las Heras and everyone else is from the north part of the country. Everyone comes to the Patagonia to find work because there are a lot more opportunities down here. Adrian told us he'd talk to Joana about marriage to tell her all the things he's learned. 

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Note from mom:  We thought that Max's area had escaped flooding, and it is nothing like Comodoro which will take years to recover, but the rain did leave some flooding in Las Heras, and hamper their work this week. These are pictures from Max's area.  Also, transfers were today and for the first time in his mission, he is staying in the same area with the same companion.