week 95

Mommy & All,

"Find what your life's work is, and I encourage you to start working on it. You don't have to do it all at once, just find it and do just a little bit of it...also don't let your dream go. Don't let it go!!" -Les Brown

This week was pretty good. My comp and I are just out here as usual teaching and trying to find more to teach.

This nothing that cool or out of the ordinary happened. We were able to teach some old investigators named Daniel and Maria. I only gotta teach them like 3 times with my old comp because they were always working a ton. They are living together but aren't married. Daniel came to church for 3 months straight before I got here but then found a job so he stopped coming. Maria's son Astor who's 8 got baptized before I got here as well but he stopped coming when Daniel got his job. But just yesterday we found out that Daniel changed his job and now only works Monday-Friday and he wants to start coming back to church again because he really liked it. Maria tells us that she is Catholic and she is fine where she is, but she is totally okay with us coming by and sharing stuff and of course, she let her son get baptized into the church so she is really cool with it. We went by yesterday and they told us that Maria's mom who i met a couple times got put in the hospital last week for serious breathing problems. So we were able to sit down and share Alma 7:11-14 that talks about how Christ suffered for not just our sins, but our pains, sicknesses, and weaknesses as well. They really liked that and told us that they learned a little bit more about Christ. In 14 it also talks about baptism because he suffered for all those things. Daniel said he has plans one day to get baptized, just not this second. And of course, him and Maria need to get married first. But it was a really good first step with them. And its great to not only help people learn more about Christ, but at the same time im learning so much as well.

Luis is also doing really good. We went by his house a couple times this last week and every time we go by we sit down and read a chapter of the book of mormon. He always asks great questions and seems to really be understanding well and embracing the teachings it has to offer. On Sunday we were at the bus stop waiting to go to church with him but he ended up never showing up so we had to catch the last bus before church so we wouldnt be late. About 6 min after church started though, Luis walked in by himself and came by himself! That has been a huge step for him because he usually doesnt do that so I was really happy to see him making progress.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 94

Mommy & All,

"Life doesn't happen to you, it happens for you." -Jim Carrey

This week was pretty good. We are still just talking with everyone we meet and trying to find new people to teach.  

We were able to find a few new people named Paul and Cristina. They were both baptized in the evangelist church, but Paul completely left them and Cristina goes every once in a while but things happened to Paul in that church that really brought his faith down. So we went and taught him the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon and he seemed to really like it. It is always cool to share that message with people, especially when they ask us which church is right or how they can find the true church or a church that will make them feel good. So hopefully we can keep progressing with them as the weeks go on.

This week I also had the opportunity to confirm Santi in the Prensa. It was way cool to be able to go back over there and see a lot of the members who came to the baptism and have the chance to sit and talk with some of them again. The coolest part though was the chance they gave me to confirm Santi a member of the church.    What a great experience it was and it's something I will take with me forever. They Cercuetti family honestly feels like another part of my family and that's always how they've treated me and it was a special moment for all of us.  I was talking to Hermana Cercuetti (Santi's grandma) yesterday after they got Santi's baptism certificate and she told me "Elder!! Your name is Max Boyd Christensen lll, for real!?!  That is so awesome!!" Haha so shout out to mom and dad for the cool name. Really cool to be able to rep Dad and Grandpa down here.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

week 93

Mommy & All,

"I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor than a sleepy, permanent planet." -Jack London

This week was pretty good. My comp and I are out here working, just trying to find the people in our area who really wanna listen and progress and try to accept the Book of Mormon as a part of their lives. 

So just yesterday, we were here in Centro trying to find some stuff we need for a conference. As we were here, the city buses decided to do another one of their great protests and stopped driving so that was amazing. We had hardly any money and it was gonna be a long walk home. Then out of nowhere, a taxi guy drives up asking if we need a ride. I told him we didn't have any money. He said he would only charge us 100 pesos which from Centro to our house is really good. So as I'm sitting here having this conversation, my comp taps me on the shoulder. As I turn around, he shows me that his whole backpack is covered in foam and I thought what the heck? He said some guy and his little daughter just walked by and foamed him, and that its some kind of thing they do here. So I start looking up the street and notice that there are all these kids with foam cans in their hands. As my comp and I are standing there, this kid fakes like he is gonna walk passed us, but then turns and rushes towards us. As he is coming as us he shouts "its pretty hot outside right!?" and then out of nowhere, we both take a punch of foam right in the face. So that was great haha. Anyways the taxi guy was still nice enough to give us a ride close to our house and we got that taken care of. 

So last year when I was here in the Prensa, I made a few friends and some of those were the Familia Cercuetti. She has honestly been like another mom for me and we have been able to stay in touch throughout my mission. She invited us over for lunch the other day (before we got foamed) and it's been really cool to be able to go back there and see those guys a couple times since I've been here. Anyways so Hna Cercuetti has her 3 grandkids who practically live with her and her husband. The oldest one named Santi is getting baptized this Friday and they told me yesterday that they want me to confirm him after his baptism. So that was really really cool to hear that from them and will be a great memory to always share with them. Its been great to be down here meeting different people from all sorts of different places and learn to grow so close to them as you would your own family or really good friends. The mission is something that helps you love people of all kinds and some that you only met 5 minutes before. Its something great to experience every day.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 92

Mommy & All,

"Change the way you look at things...And the things you look at change." -Zig Zigler

This week was pretty good. Just flying around as usual and trying to get stuff done. 

My new comp elder Oviatt is a way cool guy. He's from Farmington and went to Viewmont and after we started talking, realized we have friends in common. We also realized that we played basketball against each other one time haha. We have been getting along real good this first week I think because the guy knows a ton about sports and I have yet to have a comp like that during my mission. So we have been able to have some pretty dang good conversations and debates and it's been awesome honestly hahaha and something I´ve missed. 

Right now in our area, we don't have much. So we did a ton of street contacting and just trying to talk to people in the street. That has probably been the hardest thing for me to do in the mission, but we did a pretty good job this week just because if we try and talk to everyone who walks by us, we will hopefully find one person who wants to listen to us. We are starting to let go of Jose and some of the other eternal investigators who aren't progressing and trying to find the people who truly want to be a part of the true church or at least take the time to find out if what we teach is true. 

Not a lot more to say. Outside of everyone coming and going and oh dying of heat. This week in Comodoro has been the hottest week on record in the history of the city. It peaked this week when one day it reached 104 degrees and about 95 in the shade. I'm literally getting a lot darker than I used to be and have a nice watch and ring tan line now that isn't going away. So I guess I can say I'm working on my tan out here as well.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen

Week 91

Mommy & All, 

"Allow your pain to push you to greatness!! Some of you have been knocked out by life, and you got up and saw the blood and said eeeeehhhhh he hit me...Sometimes in life, you have to hit back!!!" -Born in the Dark

This week was pretty good. Elder Allen was my comp last week since we were both without comps so we had to go back and forth working in his area and in mine. It was a nice time traveling again haha, but we did have quite a bit of success and some good laughs, he's a good dude.

So this week I got the Africa question again haha. Elder Allen and I were at lunch with a member in his area, and they were super nice and started to ask me a bunch of questions while we were eating. They started to ask about the fam and where I was from and all this stuff. I told them I was from the U.S. and they thought that was cool. Then they asked me again where I was born and I told them Houston. Then they started to look at me a little funny and asked where my parents were born. I told them the U.S. as well and they started to get more confused so they asked me where my grandparents were from and I said the U.S. as well haha. So then after a couple rounds of this game, one of the sisters just comes out and says "You seriously weren't born in Africa, or at least your parents?" Haha I told them no but of course, all lines lead back there at some time. But it was pretty funny how they were surprised I had 3 generations born in the U.S. haha.

Another one of these happened just yesterday when we were eating in Elder Allen's area again. We were eating with this really cool family who looked at my pics and asked me a million questions about adoption and how that all worked and just how my fam was put together. During the conversation, one of the sons who is 16 piped up and asked, "So were you born on the other continent?" At first, I didn't understand that because no one had ever asked me like that before. So he looks at me again and says "You know, the other continent out there Africa, were you born there?" So then I had to explain the same thing to them as I did to the other family and it was pretty funny. 

On Sunday I went to the other ward, Palazzo, and it was a cool time. For Elder Quorum, we all went in a room and sat in a circle and had a council where we talked about the Sabbath day and specifically the topic of Worship. They started giving ideas on how we can prepare before, during, and after the Sabbath to worship God and Jesus Christ. Then they started talking about service and lending a helping hand to the people who might need it to be ready when the Sabbath arrives. The topic of Sabbath day service got brought up and a counselor from the stake presidency brought up the saying that Jesus said when he said something like if your cow falls into a pit on the sabbath day, you aren't going to wait for the Sabbath to pass to get it out, but you will do it right away. In some cases of service and things on the Sabbath that is the case. Then another guy said that after that happens though, we must prepare ourselves so that the figurative cow, whatever it may be, doesn't fall again next week. Then the counselor quickly responded with the question "okay so what can we do if the cow does happen to fall down again?" And literally without a pause or a thought, almost like it was a planned response, the whole Elder Quorum says almost in unison, "We can have an Asado!!!" (Argentine Barbecue) Elder Halverson from Washington who was with me, him and I just start busting out laughing and everyone starts laughing as well. That was just the biggest showing to us just how ingrained the culture of Asado is here in Argentina. So that was another funny moment.

Well, I literally just said goodbye to my best buddy in the mission Elder Jensen a few minutes ago. He's flying out to Sac Town tomorrow morning and it was good to see him one last time. Wouldnt have made it through the mission without that guy, that's for sure. Its been great to get to know a lot of the guys in the mission and grow close to them as friends, but that guy is gonna be someone I never forget.

Much Love,

Elder Christensen