Hola American Family,
how is everyone doing now adays, i just took a quick look at the photo that tay sent me and nine inches is something to brag about haha i can only imagine how wonderful it must in new mexico. Im not going to lie, i miss the snow, but not the cold haha i hope everyone is doing well. again i forgot my list of awesome things to write about on my desk so i am a little upset but hopefully i will remember most of it. ok well first of all, hope my package got there haha i would use words to describe that package but im a missionary. so frustrating, and than the worst part was that it cost more than moms three boxes to me... yeah i wasnt too happy about that but i hope coop enjoys it and that everyone can have a little piece of the mexico temple, seeing as it was mostly what i sent. but yes the other frustrating part was that we had to empty everything out and the guy had to check everything for drugs and whatever so it all got screwed up so basically mom, the ring, a photo, and the memory chip all go to tay, if you would be so kind haha much love and yeah throw in a mexico magnet or something. and the rest is for the family, but really, package from me, probably never again, so enjoy this one. glad that nano is home, working ehh but hey is it money. mom you are funny, i hope everyone has their questions written haha and yes mom i think the phone card is a good idea and i think i will just call and you guys can call back on the phone card, i get 40 mintues and i would rather not do speaker cause its just screaming haha but im hoping for the 24th so jenny and britton can head off. so yeah... should be good haha im excited, havent put much thought into it, mostly just going to be another day with a couple extra meals haha but yeah it will be cool, hopefully i dont sound too weird with my phrases and whatnot ahahok what else did i forget, oh yeah dad, great job on the talk, i talked too but i dont think it was as good as yours, i dont remember that story though. glad you guys found the christmas tree without too much blood, even though the blood does add something to it haha glad to hear that sterl made it alright to the mtc, that kid is such a stud haha love him, and thats cool about B, i understand that cooper might love me like that too haha jk bro, your awesome, do work. uh what else.... cambios are next week and yeah... it feels like elder slade and i have been together longer haha he is just a little prideful but hey so am i. idk, really im hoping for a new area but ill do whatever the president tells me. oh yeah got a letter from dan and andrew wilson on thursday, i wrote dan a letter today so it will probably be there... march haha but he sounds good just having the regular problems. send my love to him please. hope basketball is going well
took my week really fast the first part of the week was pretty normal, we found a couple of solid investigadores that have some real interest in the church so that was cool, just sad part was that we didnt get anyone of them to the church... yeah we will have to work on that this week. but thursday was the big day! i forgot to tell you that we were going to the temple as a mission haha so yeah we went! well just half of us one day and the other half anther day. so yeah we filled the room and is was way cool in spanish, alot of words i didnt know and it was in vosotros so it was a little hard. i messed up alot haha but its cool, comes with practice. after we ate as a mission and had a christmas activity where people sang and stuff, it was pretty sweet. and than the presidente got up there and was just deadly serious, have a great christmas, get to work, and than he sent sent an email that was like, if you dont want to work the right way, you basically dont believe in Christ. it was pretty intense, he is just done with the crap from the elders that refuse to change. idk, very serious though.
on a lighter note i got my package from tay!!! whoo i was so pumped! all the mexicans were like... why do you have the virgin guadalupe on your package and i explained it was because i didn't want to get robbed. the americans thought it was genius and the mexicans... well they didnt like it very much haha but yeah thanks love, the tie is hidious... its perfect!!! (thanks taylre for donating the tie for the burn) and the sick awesome tshirt, wore it last night haha anyways, it was great, thank you very much.
saturday we had two elders go home because the cambios are next week but the presidente wanted them to be home for christmas so yeah we are one zone leader down and one down in my district. kind of chaos haha and yeah all the ward parties this weekend that we couldnt go to because they start at nine and end at one in the morning! ridiculous haha but yeah good stuff and the funny thing of the week, i was with the zone leader that is left and he is from washington and yeah were chatting and a member comes up to us and tells us she is a member of a ward in our zone and offers us a ride and my zl was like, oh ok so you know edler aquino? but in english and she just looked at him weird and didnt understand so he said it slower the second time and then i was laughing too hard and had to tell him that he was speaking in english and not spanish haha he really didnt know the difference. good times
Ok folks, i got to run, no sports today.. kind of sad but since no one got mad last time i dont feel bad saying i scored 4 goals haha ok for those of you that i am not going to talk to this week, feliz navidad and have a great week. and for my fam, talk to you wednesday! love you all and pray for you often.
to the moon and back
con amor
elder w christensen
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Tu eres de Mexico? Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 4:48 PM
Bueno pimero, les amo muchisismo haha si, yo deje inglés de lunes pero para que ustedes puedan entender, voy a escribir en inglés. Y solo por eso... haha jk how are you guys doing!!? I imagine that everyone is back home and doing awesome and that everyone is done with school except for coop?.. sorry bro, hang in there. But hey Jen!! congrats sis that is so cool. I would try to imagine what that must feel like but seeing as it is like seven years in the future, i will just have you tell me haha but that is way cool, i hope you celebrated and everything. You are grown up now jen, how old haha jk much love, i can say that because i am on a mission and that means im going to be turing 20 in april, four months away.. no manches... haha uh crazy. but yeah everyone feeling the holiday spirit yet or did the computer brake and there is not christmas music going 24/7 in the house? haha jk mom but i must admit i do enjoy the christmas music here when i hear it. there are not a lot of mexican christmas songs so they play the good old classics haha and i forgot to tell you mom, the person that we are going to have christmas with put up a ridiculous amount of decorations, just so i can feel at home haha how are those coming by the way? well im sure. at lights only on the first story? coop... haha jk
ok yeah the third box came from tucson this week. had the photo album of thanksgiving. and no im not peeking.. much haha the sweater was already checked and the wrapping was gone. i have been good haha elder slade is already done with his stocking haha
that is too bad to hear about dan. I would lie and say that they dont like americans here either but im sure its nothing like there. im going to have to write him a letter soon. i have written everybody else haha by the way hoping to send my package home tomorrow... yeah so we will see about that and hopefully you will distribute the things to their respective people. i wrote letters for grandma and grandpa on both sides. just get excited coop, im getting your present tonight from a member haha im jealous.
oh yes cannot forget to congratulate britton as well. well done my brother. and i encourage meat in the freezer, if it lasts two years haha and y gracias por su carta tambien, fue muy bien. solo tuve problemas con un ante pero yo pude imaginar lo que fue haha
ok momyou wanted a testimony or something like that. I really dont have many christmas stories yet, does help that it feels like july either but i can talk about my favorite convert so far.
So this kid, Issac, and i say kid but he is older than me, was one of my fist baptisms. The first time we met him was in the church where he had brought himself after a friend had told him where it was. We introduced ourselves and he told us that he would like to take lessons. We told him that we could help him with that. After our first lesson we discovered that he worked full time and was going to school as well. The fact that he had gotten special permission to come that sunday was a miracle in itself. He told us that he couldnt come on sundays because he worked every sunday morning from 8 to 2. We thought about it and asked him to pray to his heavenly father and ask for help. The next day, he told that he did what we asked and talked to his boss. HIs boss had given him two hours for every sunday to come, 9 to 11. We were so pumped for his faith and desire. The next week he came with the first frown i had ever seen him wear. He told us that his grandfather had spoken to him and that if he joined the church, his grandfater would disown him. Seeing as issac didnt have a father, it was a pretty large hurdle to put it lightly. We cried together that night. We asked him to pray again to his Heavenly Father for help. the next Sunday he showed up with a smile again. We asked what happened and he told us that nothing happened, but some how he felt that the Lord was going to take care of it. We were happy then, but when he told us that he wanted to get baptized, we said, we can help you with that haha
the lord doesn't give us challenges to watch us fail, but rather to watch us sore.
Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees, the further the sky, the greater the length, the more the storm the more the strength. By sun and cold, by rain and snow, in trees and men, good timber grows.
Douglas Malloch Good Timber
ok i got to run but i love you all.
I love you all and obviously the closer the 25th comes the more i feel for you all but hey, i wouldnt be anywhere else. Loving every second of it.
to the moon and back..
con amor
Elder W. Christensen
Monday, December 8, 2008
No broma, soy Elder Christensen Sent: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 17:00:10 +0000
hey fam/others that read this letter>
como estan? espero muy bien. estoy ayunando de ingles hasta la navidad. Va matarme haha pero me prometi que yo puede escribir en ingles para que ustedes que no hablen español puedan entender. y porque yo no quiero escribir en español por tode de esta carta haha
how is everyone doing? if you didnt understand, its alright, i probably screwed up somewhere in there typing haha just ask britton or your nearest rm. anyways, i hope everyone is doing great cause i am. seriously, i was struggling this week but the weekend totally turned it around. also helps that the weather is like los alamos in july haha its wonderful to walk down the street in a short sleeve shirt at night.
anyways on to more important things. sounds like thanksgiving was everything that you had hoped for and more. way fun. glad that everyone had a good time and that no one got in any fights haha i know you all missed me but hey, next time just bring rockie and it will feel like i was never gone haha a yukon? haha i was ok with buying a car but i thought it was going to be something a little smaller, but if it is large because it needs to pull a boat, i approve haha jk but dad congrats on doing a great job with the suburb, and sorry about work, i understand if you were busy. i was just laughing when i got your letter cause i asked elder slade how many elders get a letter like that from their dad haha but yeah good luck. uh que más? thanks for the letter mom, i hope grandpa is doing better. i am trying to remember everything and its hard cause i left my lists of things to reply to at home so sorry. but yeah the picture of coop doing a bike, i wrote underneath, algo es possible, haha much love bro.
sounds like sterl did a great job with his talk, and is totally ready to dominate the ozzies. good luck man, you wil be great, just be patient and know that when you put on that tag, you are not you for two years, you are something much better. hopefully that didnt come off wrong haha and yes mom i read your read frist letter, and yes i can have something for next week.
oh yeah christmas call haha so i am going to be at my mission leaders house that morning and elder slade told me that he is jsut going to call and hang up when his familys caller id gets the number and than his family can call back and they will pay haha but i have a phone card left and i think i will use that with jenny. where is she going to be? and yeah i get 40 mintues so it will be good.
alright my week real fast
so tuesday were interviews with the president and they were alright. i talked to president and pretty normal nothing special, idk, he always looks at me at the end and just smiles, its like he is reading my mind haha but the funny part was afterwards when i was talking with Hermana Nancollas, his wife, she said, gracias elder, when i was leaving and my mind froze and i was just like... to you haha in spanish you would say, a usted, in that situation and yeah my mind died haha it was really funny but you just have to know that the amercans here just speak differently. we say phrases in spanish in english and they dont make sense to anyone else except for people in the mission haha its great not being able to speak either language. saturday was a baptism for some elders in our district and they baptized a 90 year old woman. elder tapp was already scared of killing her and than the first attempt she took a breath under water. it was terrible, but the third try he just grabbed her face, plugged her nose and closed her mouth and put her under haha it was the most exciting baptism ever. we had six edlers there all ready to perform a miracle or cpr depending on what went down. no i shouldnt joke like that but it was a good baptism. and than sunday the bishops son was back from the states and he had been at byu the week before haha almost killed me but it was cool to talk about provo with him. i also bore my testimony in church that i love the members and that i still cant speak spanish very well but i am here to help them in any way. later in the hall, hermano macias, one of my favorite brothers, pulled me aside and was like, elder you cant speak spanish very well. i was like oh thanks hermano but than he continued, but your progression as a representative of Christ has grown enormously. yeah it made me feel pretty good inside. but yeah i want everyone to make a goal of bearing their testimonies every fast sunday this next year, its only 12 a year, and yeah best way to see a testimony grow is let it outside every once in a while haha ok yeah that was pretty much my week, nothing too crazy
alright guys and gals, this elder is going to go play some sports and whatnot cause i just realized yesterday, that it has been 8 months since my surgery, crazy, and my leg feels pretty good. so yeah i love you all with all my heart and i wish i was a better writer to express all the things that i want to say but im not so les amo muchisisismo. esten bien hasta proximo lunes. remember to do service this month and remember why we celebrate it. you are all great and i miss you very much but i wouldnt be anywhere else than here. Do work son! to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder W. Christensen
PS there are four christensens in the mission now so the president calls me W haha good times
como estan? espero muy bien. estoy ayunando de ingles hasta la navidad. Va matarme haha pero me prometi que yo puede escribir en ingles para que ustedes que no hablen español puedan entender. y porque yo no quiero escribir en español por tode de esta carta haha
how is everyone doing? if you didnt understand, its alright, i probably screwed up somewhere in there typing haha just ask britton or your nearest rm. anyways, i hope everyone is doing great cause i am. seriously, i was struggling this week but the weekend totally turned it around. also helps that the weather is like los alamos in july haha its wonderful to walk down the street in a short sleeve shirt at night.
anyways on to more important things. sounds like thanksgiving was everything that you had hoped for and more. way fun. glad that everyone had a good time and that no one got in any fights haha i know you all missed me but hey, next time just bring rockie and it will feel like i was never gone haha a yukon? haha i was ok with buying a car but i thought it was going to be something a little smaller, but if it is large because it needs to pull a boat, i approve haha jk but dad congrats on doing a great job with the suburb, and sorry about work, i understand if you were busy. i was just laughing when i got your letter cause i asked elder slade how many elders get a letter like that from their dad haha but yeah good luck. uh que más? thanks for the letter mom, i hope grandpa is doing better. i am trying to remember everything and its hard cause i left my lists of things to reply to at home so sorry. but yeah the picture of coop doing a bike, i wrote underneath, algo es possible, haha much love bro.
sounds like sterl did a great job with his talk, and is totally ready to dominate the ozzies. good luck man, you wil be great, just be patient and know that when you put on that tag, you are not you for two years, you are something much better. hopefully that didnt come off wrong haha and yes mom i read your read frist letter, and yes i can have something for next week.
oh yeah christmas call haha so i am going to be at my mission leaders house that morning and elder slade told me that he is jsut going to call and hang up when his familys caller id gets the number and than his family can call back and they will pay haha but i have a phone card left and i think i will use that with jenny. where is she going to be? and yeah i get 40 mintues so it will be good.
alright my week real fast
so tuesday were interviews with the president and they were alright. i talked to president and pretty normal nothing special, idk, he always looks at me at the end and just smiles, its like he is reading my mind haha but the funny part was afterwards when i was talking with Hermana Nancollas, his wife, she said, gracias elder, when i was leaving and my mind froze and i was just like... to you haha in spanish you would say, a usted, in that situation and yeah my mind died haha it was really funny but you just have to know that the amercans here just speak differently. we say phrases in spanish in english and they dont make sense to anyone else except for people in the mission haha its great not being able to speak either language. saturday was a baptism for some elders in our district and they baptized a 90 year old woman. elder tapp was already scared of killing her and than the first attempt she took a breath under water. it was terrible, but the third try he just grabbed her face, plugged her nose and closed her mouth and put her under haha it was the most exciting baptism ever. we had six edlers there all ready to perform a miracle or cpr depending on what went down. no i shouldnt joke like that but it was a good baptism. and than sunday the bishops son was back from the states and he had been at byu the week before haha almost killed me but it was cool to talk about provo with him. i also bore my testimony in church that i love the members and that i still cant speak spanish very well but i am here to help them in any way. later in the hall, hermano macias, one of my favorite brothers, pulled me aside and was like, elder you cant speak spanish very well. i was like oh thanks hermano but than he continued, but your progression as a representative of Christ has grown enormously. yeah it made me feel pretty good inside. but yeah i want everyone to make a goal of bearing their testimonies every fast sunday this next year, its only 12 a year, and yeah best way to see a testimony grow is let it outside every once in a while haha ok yeah that was pretty much my week, nothing too crazy
alright guys and gals, this elder is going to go play some sports and whatnot cause i just realized yesterday, that it has been 8 months since my surgery, crazy, and my leg feels pretty good. so yeah i love you all with all my heart and i wish i was a better writer to express all the things that i want to say but im not so les amo muchisisismo. esten bien hasta proximo lunes. remember to do service this month and remember why we celebrate it. you are all great and i miss you very much but i wouldnt be anywhere else than here. Do work son! to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder W. Christensen
PS there are four christensens in the mission now so the president calls me W haha good times
Monday, December 1, 2008
July in Christmas... o algo Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 2:54 PM
hello americans
haha i only make the distiction because we played football today and the americans lost to the mexicans. Really they only learned ten minutes before hand how to play so yeah... it was humbling haha anyways... how is everyone doing?
I would make a comment that tay is the only one that wrote me, so for a whole week i felt love from no one else, but that would just be mean haha just kidding mom, i still love you, i figured you guys were either traveling or just about to leave so no se preocupre, it is all good. i know you all love me, and how do i know that, because i got two bomb packages! yeah i was pretty pumped haha and yeah sorry mom, they opened both of them, the mary pictures didn´t work haha but no worries, i think it was the secrateries anyways, its a mission rule or something. but yeah i think everything was there. I set up and make my tree last night haha i was just like... this is such a mom thing haha but i loved it regardless. if only i had presents to go under it... haha jk but everything was great, thanks for the sweater, it was 80 degrees today haha idk what is going on but its not december like i know it. so yeah thanks for everything and the pixi stixs are already gone... so yeahspeaking of holidays, thanksgiving doesnt exist here haha no surprise but yeah it was just an ordinary thursday, except when we walked into a members house to teach and they had texas vs taxas am on their huge flat screen. i almost died haha and i hate texas! weird, but yeah that was it.so
tuesday elder slade had to go to a leadership training so i went with teh zone leader that is going home in three weeks. it really wasnt bad, he doesnt know english so i learned alot of spanish haha we studied and worked all day. Before he was probably one of my least favorite people but know we get along just great. and he is one of the kind of leagands here, baptized 52 weeks in a row, some of them are more real than others but hey that is how this mission used to be. but overall it was a good break from the same companion and i learned alot.
so yeah i think it was either the last letter or the second to last letter but i mention my first blessing in english. yeah well saturday night i gave my first in spanish to an hermano that had this disease where if he eats alot of meat he gets crystals in his blood that tear the skin and attacks the joints, idk but is extremely painful and he couldnt walk. so yeah i went up there and tried my best and yeah... if you ever want to be humbled, try listening to the spirit in a different language haha but i was only shaking a little bit after it haha, and the next morning, here comes the hermano trotting into the chapel with a smile on his face. obviously he wasnt doing jumping jacks but it was still a pretty awesome experience to be a part of. I am very grateful to have had that opportunity.
this sunday was only the childrens program haha it is just the same in mexico as in the US, still look for the one kid that signs the loudest and every kid that eats the mic and screams something and skips off haha it was even better cause we have two wards so i got to do it twice haha so overall it was a pretty good week, we found this bomb family that has been going to church in a different stake with their friends and the missionaries there are slow so yeah hopefully we can get them to come here.
alright guys, i love you all. I cant say it enough. I see families every day here and they are all in different modes of life and i am so grateful for you mom and dad and for your examples, im grateful for the gospel and im grateful that i have three wonderful siblings that i can be a hero for. it was a great letter nano. yes nano, take note haha alright, i hope you are all dominating what you are doing and remember to ask in prayer for the things you lack, cause i can bear testimony that he wants to give it to you. its strange here, my greatest moment has been watching a kid, issac, who had everything going against him to learn the gospel bless the sacrament on sunday. yeah he screwed up 5 times but all the better. just now i smile thinking about it. its a wonderful experience here.. i regret nothing. and for all you elders about to enter or are entered, remember to hold on to those wonderful moments, cause they are going to carry you. I love you guys. to the moon and back...
Con amor
Elder Christensen
haha i only make the distiction because we played football today and the americans lost to the mexicans. Really they only learned ten minutes before hand how to play so yeah... it was humbling haha anyways... how is everyone doing?
I would make a comment that tay is the only one that wrote me, so for a whole week i felt love from no one else, but that would just be mean haha just kidding mom, i still love you, i figured you guys were either traveling or just about to leave so no se preocupre, it is all good. i know you all love me, and how do i know that, because i got two bomb packages! yeah i was pretty pumped haha and yeah sorry mom, they opened both of them, the mary pictures didn´t work haha but no worries, i think it was the secrateries anyways, its a mission rule or something. but yeah i think everything was there. I set up and make my tree last night haha i was just like... this is such a mom thing haha but i loved it regardless. if only i had presents to go under it... haha jk but everything was great, thanks for the sweater, it was 80 degrees today haha idk what is going on but its not december like i know it. so yeah thanks for everything and the pixi stixs are already gone... so yeahspeaking of holidays, thanksgiving doesnt exist here haha no surprise but yeah it was just an ordinary thursday, except when we walked into a members house to teach and they had texas vs taxas am on their huge flat screen. i almost died haha and i hate texas! weird, but yeah that was it.so
tuesday elder slade had to go to a leadership training so i went with teh zone leader that is going home in three weeks. it really wasnt bad, he doesnt know english so i learned alot of spanish haha we studied and worked all day. Before he was probably one of my least favorite people but know we get along just great. and he is one of the kind of leagands here, baptized 52 weeks in a row, some of them are more real than others but hey that is how this mission used to be. but overall it was a good break from the same companion and i learned alot.
so yeah i think it was either the last letter or the second to last letter but i mention my first blessing in english. yeah well saturday night i gave my first in spanish to an hermano that had this disease where if he eats alot of meat he gets crystals in his blood that tear the skin and attacks the joints, idk but is extremely painful and he couldnt walk. so yeah i went up there and tried my best and yeah... if you ever want to be humbled, try listening to the spirit in a different language haha but i was only shaking a little bit after it haha, and the next morning, here comes the hermano trotting into the chapel with a smile on his face. obviously he wasnt doing jumping jacks but it was still a pretty awesome experience to be a part of. I am very grateful to have had that opportunity.
this sunday was only the childrens program haha it is just the same in mexico as in the US, still look for the one kid that signs the loudest and every kid that eats the mic and screams something and skips off haha it was even better cause we have two wards so i got to do it twice haha so overall it was a pretty good week, we found this bomb family that has been going to church in a different stake with their friends and the missionaries there are slow so yeah hopefully we can get them to come here.
alright guys, i love you all. I cant say it enough. I see families every day here and they are all in different modes of life and i am so grateful for you mom and dad and for your examples, im grateful for the gospel and im grateful that i have three wonderful siblings that i can be a hero for. it was a great letter nano. yes nano, take note haha alright, i hope you are all dominating what you are doing and remember to ask in prayer for the things you lack, cause i can bear testimony that he wants to give it to you. its strange here, my greatest moment has been watching a kid, issac, who had everything going against him to learn the gospel bless the sacrament on sunday. yeah he screwed up 5 times but all the better. just now i smile thinking about it. its a wonderful experience here.. i regret nothing. and for all you elders about to enter or are entered, remember to hold on to those wonderful moments, cause they are going to carry you. I love you guys. to the moon and back...
Con amor
Elder Christensen
Monday, November 24, 2008
Five Months is nothing Sent: Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:57:03
hey fam
so yeah crazy week this week. and by that i mean that it wasnt the best,
companionship wise, ivestigadores, members, anything haha but i will
explain, and really everything is good, i just need to work harder. but
first shout out to everyone! haha the air force game sounds pretty sweet
not going to lie, i would totally have loved to have gone. next time
though haha and britton because you were a first time writer, ill answer
your question. yes the angel moroni does have the golden plates under his
arm. i thought i sent pictures of it two weeks ago but i think i screwed
up so i sent them again today, hopefully they work. also jen, hope
graduating feels great haha and that twilight was everything and more than
you wanted it to be haha but seriously i don´t need an essay about it haha
coop, sorry about the stubbed toe man, glad you took it like a man though
just like i taught you haha it was wonderful to hear from everyone! and
yeah danielle, sorry about the roomates but this semester is over and you
can find some others. maybe you have learned everything from them that you
are going to haha jk
ok my week really fast,
so yeah my companion... he is a great guy, he really is. just kind of
difficult at times. like now he is mad at an elder in my district because
he is dead, or not working, because he is going home in five weeks, but
than i pointed out to him that this dead missionary still brought twice as
many investigadores to the capilla as we did, (2) speaking of which, all of
our investigatores dropped us, we stopped by and all of them said, yeah we
dont want you anymore... so yeh that was way frustrating but i know this
week is going to be better. also church was rough, we got chewed out in
ward council cause we didnt bear our testimonies in one of the wards. they
were like, never in my life have i seen missionaries just sit there. it
was ridiculous but im trying to be humble about it, not working very well
haha pride before the fall i guess. the funny part is that my zone might
be dan jones! which is jsut an award for having the most baptisms, from
worst to best haha also about the cultural event, its online somewhere if
you can find it one the church website and if not, youtube haha or thats
what my members tell me. so cool stories, first, i gave my first blessing
ever! in english, but she is a school teacher so she understood most of it
but i was way nervous when i started but than the spirit took over and it
was sweet haha but really i was pumped to do it and next time is in
spanish... haha and the second cool story is that one lunch appointment we
had, the family was watching the other side of heaven, which i would like
everyone to watch again, or any other missionary film haha and yeah guess
what my new nickname is? kolipoki! haha all day yesterday at church haha
tmoney!! i know you are in there right now buddy, but really the mtc is
pretty good haha you have a letter coming so be patient and it is like i
said in the letter, you aremy example of a missionary already. and if you
could be with me for 9 months you could be with anyone for 6 weeeks haha
alright everyone, i lvoe you tons and forever and a bunch. i hope that you
are all doing well and staying warm. this week was so cold!! but this
weekend was like 80s haha so yeah mexico. but i pray for you all every
day, tell dan i love him and he is stronger than he thinks.
to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Westley Gene Christensen
Monday, November 17, 2008
Tercer Cambios.... Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:10 AM
Hola Familia
Just really quick,love you guys haha what is going on? i feel like i just wrote you and there went another week. Almost done with november and i cant remember the first half very well haha anyways again I am writing in response to everyones letter from last week so if i seem old and out of the loop, you know why. but yeah i saw cooper this week!! thats is what i am talking about bro, showing a little love haha now i can buy you that sick jersey. but thanks to everyone that wrote and yeah i am going to try to answer some questions real fast.
weather. well this whole week was blistering hot. no clouds, no wind, just sun and it was nice to enter some houses to just sit down. and than this morning, total fog, could see thirty yards, freezing. I would say it was like 30 below but that is a little dramatic.... probably 20 haha but i enjoy my sweater at nights. hasnt rained since my first cambio.
health haha so i checked my weight again and it said i was 160 163 so i feel bettter than before because the one before told me 155 and i was like heck no haha i have not been below 160 since sophomore year haha but thats all good. my knee. honestly i do streches every morning and excercise when i have time but really some days, i forget that that leg is my bad leg and than other days i have to do a little more streching.... but running and hiking make it feel strong again haha and the scars are almost faided away. other health, doing great. i think that that last illness was the thing that i get every fall and it just happened to occur the same time as some bad food but now im perfect, not the slight nose or throat problem. so much easier to work haha
quick word to jen (i wrote him how it frustrates me when people in my ward dis on the elders)
i had to laugh when you got mad at your ward haha i love the respect though. hopefully your missionaries are worth sticking up for. there are a couple here that i wouldnt mind seeing getting told off by their ward. but thats just me, you are alot more loving than me.
also danielle, glad to hear the roommates are better, glad i could help?... haha
mom i got told that my packages are in the office but some one else signed for them and that is why i dont have them. apparently someone opened them too but i dont know that for sure. so hopefully the next conference. and no, once i lost my father, elder tolosa, i was no longer the trainee, had to grow up with elder slade real fast haha he is like me in that he has little patience sometimes... haha
speaking of which , we just got new cambios today. im still here and with elder slade. elder arnett the other american in my district, going to elder tolosa in prados, elder tapp, his son is staying and scared stiff because he doesn´t know anything like me haha im trying to comfort him. elder shill, from mesa, went home honorable today. he was alright and yeah elder arnett´s new companion is elder farmer from my district in the mtc haha i know you guys dont really understand but trust me, someone is going to die in that companionship haha
this week we found 14 new investigadores, pretty awesome. also had two baptisms. issac and uriel, two awesome young men that are going to go places. elder slade did the ordination so that was cool just to watch. so that puts me at 8 at the end of my second cambio.
and the rest of the week was just alot of work and meetings with members.
but now on to the main event. The cutural event satuday. thrid largest stadium in teh world, estadio asteca, not so big haha just simple and they cram people into it. but yeah like 120 thousand members with the Prophet and President Eyring. Their talks were pretty good, the best part was that President Monson sang a spanish song for like a minute haha it was so awesome. the crowd went crazy haha but yeah the rest of the presentations were pretty awesome as well. something like 9000 youth all performing the history of mexico. we only got to see half of it cause than we had to leave to prep for our big moment. which really only consisted of walking out on the field but yeah, pretty amazing to be part of an army of elders, standing on the field in front of the president of the church with 120000 members screaming. really just felt good to be on the field again haha got to see all my boys again. elder heap and elder memott are doing great and elder farmers dad was one of the elders sent home last week.... so yeah
sunday was the dedication and that was really nice. President Eyring gave a bomb talk and talked about the blessings of the temple and his family. and than he got mad at the translator because they kept on interrupting him haha but it was wonderful to be a little part of that dedication, but i cant remember my last temple dedication... idaho something?
ok one cool story, last night we were walking back from tracting, with elder arnett and elder tapp, and we saw to guys pushing this vw van and we were like yeah lets help. we pushed that van 2.5 miles haha over hills and mountians and through jungles haha but it was funny cause every time we went down hill we would jump on and start singing the jamiacan bombsled theme song haha and all the mexicans were like.... stupid americans haha living the dream
hope things are going well. love all you guys. i don´t know where i would be without you but i got to run and be amazing so yeah, trying my best to make you all proud of me, you are always in my prayers.
President Monson said in the stadium, the Lord gives us June Flowers for the Decembers of our lives,
you are my flowers and i hope i can be yours haha
to the moon and back
Con Amor
Elder Christensen
Just really quick,love you guys haha what is going on? i feel like i just wrote you and there went another week. Almost done with november and i cant remember the first half very well haha anyways again I am writing in response to everyones letter from last week so if i seem old and out of the loop, you know why. but yeah i saw cooper this week!! thats is what i am talking about bro, showing a little love haha now i can buy you that sick jersey. but thanks to everyone that wrote and yeah i am going to try to answer some questions real fast.
weather. well this whole week was blistering hot. no clouds, no wind, just sun and it was nice to enter some houses to just sit down. and than this morning, total fog, could see thirty yards, freezing. I would say it was like 30 below but that is a little dramatic.... probably 20 haha but i enjoy my sweater at nights. hasnt rained since my first cambio.
health haha so i checked my weight again and it said i was 160 163 so i feel bettter than before because the one before told me 155 and i was like heck no haha i have not been below 160 since sophomore year haha but thats all good. my knee. honestly i do streches every morning and excercise when i have time but really some days, i forget that that leg is my bad leg and than other days i have to do a little more streching.... but running and hiking make it feel strong again haha and the scars are almost faided away. other health, doing great. i think that that last illness was the thing that i get every fall and it just happened to occur the same time as some bad food but now im perfect, not the slight nose or throat problem. so much easier to work haha
quick word to jen (i wrote him how it frustrates me when people in my ward dis on the elders)
i had to laugh when you got mad at your ward haha i love the respect though. hopefully your missionaries are worth sticking up for. there are a couple here that i wouldnt mind seeing getting told off by their ward. but thats just me, you are alot more loving than me.
also danielle, glad to hear the roommates are better, glad i could help?... haha
mom i got told that my packages are in the office but some one else signed for them and that is why i dont have them. apparently someone opened them too but i dont know that for sure. so hopefully the next conference. and no, once i lost my father, elder tolosa, i was no longer the trainee, had to grow up with elder slade real fast haha he is like me in that he has little patience sometimes... haha
speaking of which , we just got new cambios today. im still here and with elder slade. elder arnett the other american in my district, going to elder tolosa in prados, elder tapp, his son is staying and scared stiff because he doesn´t know anything like me haha im trying to comfort him. elder shill, from mesa, went home honorable today. he was alright and yeah elder arnett´s new companion is elder farmer from my district in the mtc haha i know you guys dont really understand but trust me, someone is going to die in that companionship haha
this week we found 14 new investigadores, pretty awesome. also had two baptisms. issac and uriel, two awesome young men that are going to go places. elder slade did the ordination so that was cool just to watch. so that puts me at 8 at the end of my second cambio.
and the rest of the week was just alot of work and meetings with members.
but now on to the main event. The cutural event satuday. thrid largest stadium in teh world, estadio asteca, not so big haha just simple and they cram people into it. but yeah like 120 thousand members with the Prophet and President Eyring. Their talks were pretty good, the best part was that President Monson sang a spanish song for like a minute haha it was so awesome. the crowd went crazy haha but yeah the rest of the presentations were pretty awesome as well. something like 9000 youth all performing the history of mexico. we only got to see half of it cause than we had to leave to prep for our big moment. which really only consisted of walking out on the field but yeah, pretty amazing to be part of an army of elders, standing on the field in front of the president of the church with 120000 members screaming. really just felt good to be on the field again haha got to see all my boys again. elder heap and elder memott are doing great and elder farmers dad was one of the elders sent home last week.... so yeah
sunday was the dedication and that was really nice. President Eyring gave a bomb talk and talked about the blessings of the temple and his family. and than he got mad at the translator because they kept on interrupting him haha but it was wonderful to be a little part of that dedication, but i cant remember my last temple dedication... idaho something?
ok one cool story, last night we were walking back from tracting, with elder arnett and elder tapp, and we saw to guys pushing this vw van and we were like yeah lets help. we pushed that van 2.5 miles haha over hills and mountians and through jungles haha but it was funny cause every time we went down hill we would jump on and start singing the jamiacan bombsled theme song haha and all the mexicans were like.... stupid americans haha living the dream
hope things are going well. love all you guys. i don´t know where i would be without you but i got to run and be amazing so yeah, trying my best to make you all proud of me, you are always in my prayers.
President Monson said in the stadium, the Lord gives us June Flowers for the Decembers of our lives,
you are my flowers and i hope i can be yours haha
to the moon and back
Con Amor
Elder Christensen
Monday, November 10, 2008
Two Americans Rollin in Mexico Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 12:49 PM
Hey guys!
so this time i am doing it a little differently. I only have a half hour to write so i am going to just write for all of it and than print all of your letters at the end to read later. so yeah if it seems like i am not answering any questions or saying how awesome anyone is doing, it is because i dont know anything haha but yeah i am going to go ahead an talk about my favorite topic, me haha really i am sorry that i am terrible with this whole email thing but i am going to figure it out one of these days.
anyways, my new companion. elder slade. from mesa, like every missionary from arizona, con excepcion with sterling haha that is so cool man, i know you are going to rock it. just dont be a stupid missionary that your parents wouldnt be proud of. there is an elder here going home in a week and yeah has the maturity of a 16. just know a mission is the closest to real life you will ever get. anyways my companion, he is actually really great. he can be a little blunt at times which makes me feel kind of dumb but i always end of loving him anyways haha for example he told me that i speak spanish like a gangoso.. look it up haha its funnier in spanish. anyways, he loves to work and be obidient. he got upset this week when we only found 6 news, he really wants to work, its wonderful haha we worked so hard that i totally missed the first week of november, cant remember anything. but yeah he comes from a rough family background where his two older brothers both did something while filling out their papers and werent able to go on missions. so yeah even more impressive that he wants to be a better example for them. we will definitely be together for next cambios as wellexciting things of the week.
two bautismos!!!! give me some love haha there were two girls that were friends with a member in our ward and thats i how we met them. but yeah, they are going to be great in the future. funny story though, so yeah i was going to perform it and i was getting into the font. totally ate it on the first step and crashed into the pool. the doors to the font were closed and so the crowd could only hear chaos and english words being yelled. its ok, only elder slade understood them haha jk but yeah that started it off well and than i couldnt say their names haha it took like 5 times each one and the bishop was just standing over me as a witness making be feel dumb and calling me a dumb gringo haha but we finally got it done and yeah, so pumped about it. we have another baptism for this friday for issac, awesome kid. he came to us last week and was like, i dont know what to do, i want to continue with the church but my grandpa said he would disown me if i did ( his dad died a while ago, so yeah the father figure) and it crushed me. i just told him with all my heart that God loves him and will provide a way if he asks for help. Came up to us tuesday with a big old grin and was like, i dont know what is gonig to happen but i have all this courage and love and i am going to talk with my grandpa but really, i just want to be baptized. how awesome is that!! best feeling all week, the Lord totally answered my prayers and his.speaking of this week.
Giant Cultural Event in the second largest stadium in the world? with the Prophet and President Eyring? yes it is going to happen and i am pumped! five missions are going to sing and they told us that it was going to be broadcasted so yeah... look for me haha and than sunday, temple dedication, already got my ticket haha it is going to be an awesome week, and we are going to find so many people and teach them and yeah.... i am just grining thinking about it haha
one more funny story, elder slade had been talking with a couple of elders one night on the phone about things the next day and whatever and he hangs up and comes to bed. the phone rings again and he, thinking that it is one of the elders that he was just talking to, says "whasup!!!!!" and the next thing i hear is..... "... oh Hermana Nancollas. how are you? i didnt think it was you...." haha i just bust up laughing. good times. she had called to talk some medical things with elder slade.
yeah thats all ok guys, i love you all and am grateful for your prayers and fasts. you are all my testimony and my strength.
(sterl, you are going to rock it man, you have such a good attitude and a way of loving people. The lord knows that and he is going to use that gift. Best two years. )
do great things, and remember who you are and dont let it get you down =) haha
love you all with all my heart
to the moon and back....
con amor
Elder Christensen
so this time i am doing it a little differently. I only have a half hour to write so i am going to just write for all of it and than print all of your letters at the end to read later. so yeah if it seems like i am not answering any questions or saying how awesome anyone is doing, it is because i dont know anything haha but yeah i am going to go ahead an talk about my favorite topic, me haha really i am sorry that i am terrible with this whole email thing but i am going to figure it out one of these days.
anyways, my new companion. elder slade. from mesa, like every missionary from arizona, con excepcion with sterling haha that is so cool man, i know you are going to rock it. just dont be a stupid missionary that your parents wouldnt be proud of. there is an elder here going home in a week and yeah has the maturity of a 16. just know a mission is the closest to real life you will ever get. anyways my companion, he is actually really great. he can be a little blunt at times which makes me feel kind of dumb but i always end of loving him anyways haha for example he told me that i speak spanish like a gangoso.. look it up haha its funnier in spanish. anyways, he loves to work and be obidient. he got upset this week when we only found 6 news, he really wants to work, its wonderful haha we worked so hard that i totally missed the first week of november, cant remember anything. but yeah he comes from a rough family background where his two older brothers both did something while filling out their papers and werent able to go on missions. so yeah even more impressive that he wants to be a better example for them. we will definitely be together for next cambios as wellexciting things of the week.
two bautismos!!!! give me some love haha there were two girls that were friends with a member in our ward and thats i how we met them. but yeah, they are going to be great in the future. funny story though, so yeah i was going to perform it and i was getting into the font. totally ate it on the first step and crashed into the pool. the doors to the font were closed and so the crowd could only hear chaos and english words being yelled. its ok, only elder slade understood them haha jk but yeah that started it off well and than i couldnt say their names haha it took like 5 times each one and the bishop was just standing over me as a witness making be feel dumb and calling me a dumb gringo haha but we finally got it done and yeah, so pumped about it. we have another baptism for this friday for issac, awesome kid. he came to us last week and was like, i dont know what to do, i want to continue with the church but my grandpa said he would disown me if i did ( his dad died a while ago, so yeah the father figure) and it crushed me. i just told him with all my heart that God loves him and will provide a way if he asks for help. Came up to us tuesday with a big old grin and was like, i dont know what is gonig to happen but i have all this courage and love and i am going to talk with my grandpa but really, i just want to be baptized. how awesome is that!! best feeling all week, the Lord totally answered my prayers and his.speaking of this week.
Giant Cultural Event in the second largest stadium in the world? with the Prophet and President Eyring? yes it is going to happen and i am pumped! five missions are going to sing and they told us that it was going to be broadcasted so yeah... look for me haha and than sunday, temple dedication, already got my ticket haha it is going to be an awesome week, and we are going to find so many people and teach them and yeah.... i am just grining thinking about it haha
one more funny story, elder slade had been talking with a couple of elders one night on the phone about things the next day and whatever and he hangs up and comes to bed. the phone rings again and he, thinking that it is one of the elders that he was just talking to, says "whasup!!!!!" and the next thing i hear is..... "... oh Hermana Nancollas. how are you? i didnt think it was you...." haha i just bust up laughing. good times. she had called to talk some medical things with elder slade.
yeah thats all ok guys, i love you all and am grateful for your prayers and fasts. you are all my testimony and my strength.
(sterl, you are going to rock it man, you have such a good attitude and a way of loving people. The lord knows that and he is going to use that gift. Best two years. )
do great things, and remember who you are and dont let it get you down =) haha
love you all with all my heart
to the moon and back....
con amor
Elder Christensen
Monday, November 3, 2008
Big news in mexico! Sent: Monday, November 03, 2008 4:45 PM
hola familia,
well first let me say that there are not going to be pictures again for another week because i just came from bowling, which i dominated, and i thought we were going to pass by our house again before but whatever. i am really sorry cause they are some awesome pictures and i keep on talking about them but got nothing to show for it... I am making a promise right now, next week, or you dont write me. ok that is a little dramatic, ill remember
anways the big news! last night we were just about to crash in the beds, well me cause i ahve been sick again..., haha its getting old really, but this is just a header ache, cold, fever thing... anyways we were about to crash and than elder tolosa gets a call. emergecy transfers. he left this morning at like 12. yeah crushing. it is becuase the president is sending people home now, six so far, and yeah he had to swith some things around to make it work so yeah my new companion is elder slade. he is the step cousin of an elder in my district haha very interesting but i like him. he is a good bowler and yeah wants to work and do the right thing. it made me sad reading all the letters from you guys and how obvious it was that elder tolosa and i werent getting along. we actually had a talk two night ago and yeah we totally let everything out. it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me right now. obviously he told me i need to work on my patience and how if i really am not a unhappy person that i need to show it. i know you are all knodding your heads so you can stop it haha but yeah got to put that smile on, because really, i wouldnt want to be anywere else. so yeah i will see him tomorrow for a conference, long time no see
ok exciting things of the week
we hiked montaña zero last monday. the first part was fighting man size spiders and the second was rock climbing mulan mountain. you will understand when you see the pictures haha but it was fun because i went with the elders that i dont spend much time with in the zone and yeah got to know them
second we went to the pyramids! bien chito! i was sick but yeah still fun because it was like hello! lamatines, christ coming! obvious! haha but yeah we met the head lady and she is lds so anyone that picks me up gets a free tour. i have pictures of the pyramids too. two things real fast. one of the smaller temples, called the temple of christ.... could it be more obvious haha and the second is that when we were on the top on the temple of the sol we were taking pictures and stuff and these two girls ask me if them can take a picture with me and i am like what? haha but yeah everyone just laughed at me and i just kept my hands in my pockets and smiled and prayed for elder tolosa to help haha what can i say, still got it haha jk sorry
found a lot of nuevos this week but no baptisms, but we gat two lined up for this week. thank you for your fast. also going to send a package next week with little things. and cooper... idk i am going to remember this... haha love you anyways
also want to apologize for being so whiney in last weeks letter
i am doing awesome
love you all and sorry i cant write more
elder christensen
well first let me say that there are not going to be pictures again for another week because i just came from bowling, which i dominated, and i thought we were going to pass by our house again before but whatever. i am really sorry cause they are some awesome pictures and i keep on talking about them but got nothing to show for it... I am making a promise right now, next week, or you dont write me. ok that is a little dramatic, ill remember
anways the big news! last night we were just about to crash in the beds, well me cause i ahve been sick again..., haha its getting old really, but this is just a header ache, cold, fever thing... anyways we were about to crash and than elder tolosa gets a call. emergecy transfers. he left this morning at like 12. yeah crushing. it is becuase the president is sending people home now, six so far, and yeah he had to swith some things around to make it work so yeah my new companion is elder slade. he is the step cousin of an elder in my district haha very interesting but i like him. he is a good bowler and yeah wants to work and do the right thing. it made me sad reading all the letters from you guys and how obvious it was that elder tolosa and i werent getting along. we actually had a talk two night ago and yeah we totally let everything out. it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me right now. obviously he told me i need to work on my patience and how if i really am not a unhappy person that i need to show it. i know you are all knodding your heads so you can stop it haha but yeah got to put that smile on, because really, i wouldnt want to be anywere else. so yeah i will see him tomorrow for a conference, long time no see
ok exciting things of the week
we hiked montaña zero last monday. the first part was fighting man size spiders and the second was rock climbing mulan mountain. you will understand when you see the pictures haha but it was fun because i went with the elders that i dont spend much time with in the zone and yeah got to know them
second we went to the pyramids! bien chito! i was sick but yeah still fun because it was like hello! lamatines, christ coming! obvious! haha but yeah we met the head lady and she is lds so anyone that picks me up gets a free tour. i have pictures of the pyramids too. two things real fast. one of the smaller temples, called the temple of christ.... could it be more obvious haha and the second is that when we were on the top on the temple of the sol we were taking pictures and stuff and these two girls ask me if them can take a picture with me and i am like what? haha but yeah everyone just laughed at me and i just kept my hands in my pockets and smiled and prayed for elder tolosa to help haha what can i say, still got it haha jk sorry
found a lot of nuevos this week but no baptisms, but we gat two lined up for this week. thank you for your fast. also going to send a package next week with little things. and cooper... idk i am going to remember this... haha love you anyways
also want to apologize for being so whiney in last weeks letter
i am doing awesome
love you all and sorry i cant write more
elder christensen
Monday, October 27, 2008
Who went to the temple? i did! Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 5:35 PM
Hola familia y otros
ok first and formost this devastating news. the package that mom sent two weeks ago, that i had loved and wanted to receive with all my heart, got sent back home last week. so yeah it will be at home in a couple of days. sorry about that but like i tried to explain before the company that used to do the packages quit and now they sit in a mexican postage office for a week and if the person doesn´t sign for them, it goes back. so idk what is going to happen with the one coming. hopefully i can make it to the office before it gets sent home, haha not bitter, full of love
k that was a little much of a rant but its over. it was great to hear from mom and dad.... haha and i´m going to laugh and type, im sorry. anyways, congrats coop on an awesome season. now you can help mom around the house more! and get grades up before basketball haha jk you are great man, keep it up. and before i forget, the dhl connection that the other elder had was only for receiving packages, no help on the 850 pesos. so yeah idk, idk what to do but its ok cause i haven´t boughten anything because we havent shopped. so yeah i need to figure some stuff out. but good news on the letter front. presidentes parents are coming to help in the office and he told me in the interviews this week that if i give the office a letter to send out that it would be gone in a week so yeah they come this saturday. sorry t money, i dont think you are going t get a letter. haha so frustrating! really im pretty calm right now, like on the outside, but really i want to scream cause of all the little dumb things haha anyways im good.
i have heard of that four stage thing that you got mom, i was there for the devotional. im in the hate everything phase haha no cierto, but it is definitely difficult sometimes. like we dont have gas or water in our house haha because we done have money but that will change monday so its all good.
sorry you had to work all week mom. im sure it is paying off. with all these rumors about the US that we hear from members, it could help alot. and yeah the pictures are great. they are a little bit of a pain at first but totally worth it once it is done so please, not a lot, but continue. and i can try the card again but idk. and yes mom I can understand spanish enough to poke the right button haha jk i dont. i will try again
ok so my life. we had interviews with the president this week and it was pretty not as cool as the last one but it was kind of understandable. the mission has dive bombed. we went from 400 baptisms to 130 i think this month. he was pretty discouraged. i just want to help him in anyway. and yeah we talked a little bit about a letter that elder tolosa got about a talk an apostle giving a testimony in a ward this month about how a terrible thing is going to happen and its going to be rough so yeah honestly it scared me. find the talk, and yeah be smart about money haha like i dont need four packages before christmas. but yeah anyways we only had a couple of days to work this week because we went to the temple for two days to help out. first day i help park cars and the second i introduced the prevideo to the temple for visitars. totally cool. i have a lot of pictures but i forgot my camera so next week. the temple is beautiful! so amazing and i got to go inside once and they ahve an entire wall of the painting of christ coming to the americas. like twenty yards long and ten feet high. so cool. not tryingto be a neener neener but yeah it was sweet. i recomend it to anyone that happens to be in mexico. also got to see alot of guys from my generation. saw elder memmott haha the first thing he says to me is, you been loosing weight? haha you look real thin in the face! haha in his country accent. love him. and really i probably have because i was sick with something this week and i didnt eat much. but now i am better and later i ate a 30 ounce steak to put it all back haha some of elder tolosas old converts took us out. but yeah i had some good laughs with him and his spanish is bomb, like im alright like i can understand pretty well and explain myself but he was bomb.
so two funny stories, well one and the other is just funny to me. first we were at a members house eating and we were talking about eye color. kind of boring with mexicans because they all have brown eyes but with me they were enchanced haha the hermana told me that my eyes were the color of miel... honey haha i thought, wow.. thats is enchanting haha then i explained that we dont use honey as a word to describe eyes in the US but i am going to start it. the second is that we were with the zone leaders for interviews for their converts and we were talking about our first names because everyone wants to know, so i say mine and they dont understand and move on and it just so happened that elder brown, the new zone leader, is Taylor Brown. and since the only other taylre that elder tolosa knows is my tay, he just busted of laughing, pointing at elder brown and me, almost falling out of his seat. haha we had to explain it to him haha
ok i got to run but i love you all and pray for you often. i want to share a quick thought. in spanish the phrase, what im going to do, ¿que voy a hacer? and what i am going to be, ¿que voy a ser? sound exactly the same when pronounced... just a thought about our actions.
k i love you all and you are my testimony and strength every day. to the moon and back
con amor,
Elder W Gene Christensen
ok first and formost this devastating news. the package that mom sent two weeks ago, that i had loved and wanted to receive with all my heart, got sent back home last week. so yeah it will be at home in a couple of days. sorry about that but like i tried to explain before the company that used to do the packages quit and now they sit in a mexican postage office for a week and if the person doesn´t sign for them, it goes back. so idk what is going to happen with the one coming. hopefully i can make it to the office before it gets sent home, haha not bitter, full of love
k that was a little much of a rant but its over. it was great to hear from mom and dad.... haha and i´m going to laugh and type, im sorry. anyways, congrats coop on an awesome season. now you can help mom around the house more! and get grades up before basketball haha jk you are great man, keep it up. and before i forget, the dhl connection that the other elder had was only for receiving packages, no help on the 850 pesos. so yeah idk, idk what to do but its ok cause i haven´t boughten anything because we havent shopped. so yeah i need to figure some stuff out. but good news on the letter front. presidentes parents are coming to help in the office and he told me in the interviews this week that if i give the office a letter to send out that it would be gone in a week so yeah they come this saturday. sorry t money, i dont think you are going t get a letter. haha so frustrating! really im pretty calm right now, like on the outside, but really i want to scream cause of all the little dumb things haha anyways im good.
i have heard of that four stage thing that you got mom, i was there for the devotional. im in the hate everything phase haha no cierto, but it is definitely difficult sometimes. like we dont have gas or water in our house haha because we done have money but that will change monday so its all good.
sorry you had to work all week mom. im sure it is paying off. with all these rumors about the US that we hear from members, it could help alot. and yeah the pictures are great. they are a little bit of a pain at first but totally worth it once it is done so please, not a lot, but continue. and i can try the card again but idk. and yes mom I can understand spanish enough to poke the right button haha jk i dont. i will try again
ok so my life. we had interviews with the president this week and it was pretty not as cool as the last one but it was kind of understandable. the mission has dive bombed. we went from 400 baptisms to 130 i think this month. he was pretty discouraged. i just want to help him in anyway. and yeah we talked a little bit about a letter that elder tolosa got about a talk an apostle giving a testimony in a ward this month about how a terrible thing is going to happen and its going to be rough so yeah honestly it scared me. find the talk, and yeah be smart about money haha like i dont need four packages before christmas. but yeah anyways we only had a couple of days to work this week because we went to the temple for two days to help out. first day i help park cars and the second i introduced the prevideo to the temple for visitars. totally cool. i have a lot of pictures but i forgot my camera so next week. the temple is beautiful! so amazing and i got to go inside once and they ahve an entire wall of the painting of christ coming to the americas. like twenty yards long and ten feet high. so cool. not tryingto be a neener neener but yeah it was sweet. i recomend it to anyone that happens to be in mexico. also got to see alot of guys from my generation. saw elder memmott haha the first thing he says to me is, you been loosing weight? haha you look real thin in the face! haha in his country accent. love him. and really i probably have because i was sick with something this week and i didnt eat much. but now i am better and later i ate a 30 ounce steak to put it all back haha some of elder tolosas old converts took us out. but yeah i had some good laughs with him and his spanish is bomb, like im alright like i can understand pretty well and explain myself but he was bomb.
so two funny stories, well one and the other is just funny to me. first we were at a members house eating and we were talking about eye color. kind of boring with mexicans because they all have brown eyes but with me they were enchanced haha the hermana told me that my eyes were the color of miel... honey haha i thought, wow.. thats is enchanting haha then i explained that we dont use honey as a word to describe eyes in the US but i am going to start it. the second is that we were with the zone leaders for interviews for their converts and we were talking about our first names because everyone wants to know, so i say mine and they dont understand and move on and it just so happened that elder brown, the new zone leader, is Taylor Brown. and since the only other taylre that elder tolosa knows is my tay, he just busted of laughing, pointing at elder brown and me, almost falling out of his seat. haha we had to explain it to him haha
ok i got to run but i love you all and pray for you often. i want to share a quick thought. in spanish the phrase, what im going to do, ¿que voy a hacer? and what i am going to be, ¿que voy a ser? sound exactly the same when pronounced... just a thought about our actions.
k i love you all and you are my testimony and strength every day. to the moon and back
con amor,
Elder W Gene Christensen
Monday, October 20, 2008
viva mexico Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 2:21 PM
hey howdy hi guys and gals
how is everyone doing? that is kind of a rhetorical question because i know cause everyone wrote me haha congrats to all for this wonderful achievement. it was wonderful to see how everyone is rocking it and dominating what they are doing. first and formost, jenny.. feliz cumplianos!!! yeahhh haha that is awesome that you got a washing machine! i am totally jealous cause i dont have one... haha but yeah happy birtday sis, hope it was great and yeah im still working on a gift idea so any help would be great.
but yeah cooper great stuff with the ipod, 160 bucks could keep me alive here for two months, just remember that haha and danielle, sometimes if not all the time we are the teacher so that we can learn.
what the heck happened byu!!!?? somebody was not praying hard enough. whatever, already over it haha and go broncos! sorry britton. and mom before i forget, your package is here but the problem is that the company that holds them doesnt just turn teh packages to the offices anymore and every missionary has to go sign for it personally. i was supposed to go today but they didnt call me. and yes i got the dear edler from tay and from sterl last week. love that kid sterl. how is he doing? every day im inthe mission i think how awesome sterl would be at this or that. much better than me haha but yeah i am going to send a package home soonish. i went to the dhl store because it does US and gauranteed not to be stolen haha and for one kilo.... 850 pesos to los alamos.... but hey elder arnett got his companion, elder tapp, i like him. from idaho falls, and i feel so cool when he asks me what a phrase means or a word and i know it! haha just a little pat on the back, but the real point of the story is this, they are working with an inactive member that is one of the mayor heads of mexico dhl and he gave them a password or something to get the packages across cheap. so yeah i need to talk to them. I am making a commitment right now to send a package with letters and coopers and jennys presents by the end of the this month.
which brings me to my next point, the debit card from home doesnt work... haha i tried it and it said no and i tried again and it said incorrect number so idk what to do. i used the number mom gave me. so yeah mom if you could work onthat that would be great cause i need money for coopers jersey and the package... no rush or anything haha but really thanks mom.
ok my week.... well the beginning was with elder arnett and yeah it was interesting knocking and teaching as a threesome haha elder arnett is kind of loud and fun and very likable, so likable that all of our investigadores were sad when he did come after he got his companion and just looked at us like... where is the other one? haha but hey what can you do. speaking of our investigadores, the family gonzalez put their date as the 5th of december so yeah totally crushing seeing as we were hoping for next week. wendy, our most favorite and best moved!! and we dont have her cell to track her down haha very very frustrating but we are going to go to her street and knock every door until we find news. and yeah no baptisms, no new investigadores, it is hard right now. but yeah we have interviews tomorrow with the presidente so that should get me fired back up haha we went go karting today. the zone leaders crashed into the tire wall and totally destroyed it haha sorry random but yeah i had to speak in church again yesterday. 25 minutes on la obra misional. probably the best talk i have ever written but yeah not the best presented ever haha i felt comfortable speaking and when i didnt know a word i would just turn around and ask the bishop. so yeah it was pretty cool.
so yeah i am going to go ahead and slowly being to wrap this up. I dont ahve many exciting stories this week. almost got eaten by a huge dog but that was about it. next week. hold it!! totally almost forgot! i married a preson this week haha or at least i was there and they were an investigadora and i payed for it! (800 pesos.. ridiculous) haha but yeah it was very, hold hands, this is what a marraige means and yeah sign here. haha regardless it was still very cool and i just hope mine is more exciting haha jk
it has rained for two days straight, bring on the sun. dont need portland right now. and yes mom another sweater would be wonderful!!! like just one to be in the house or even anther for the work. everything else is holding up pretty well.
alright guys im heading out. I love you all and hope to hear from you all again. do great and know that i and our loving Heavenly Father care and think about you often. i GET TO HELP WITH THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK!!! kind of excited haha ill tell you how it goes
to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Westley G. Christensen
p.s. sometimes camping is fun?.... haha
how is everyone doing? that is kind of a rhetorical question because i know cause everyone wrote me haha congrats to all for this wonderful achievement. it was wonderful to see how everyone is rocking it and dominating what they are doing. first and formost, jenny.. feliz cumplianos!!! yeahhh haha that is awesome that you got a washing machine! i am totally jealous cause i dont have one... haha but yeah happy birtday sis, hope it was great and yeah im still working on a gift idea so any help would be great.
but yeah cooper great stuff with the ipod, 160 bucks could keep me alive here for two months, just remember that haha and danielle, sometimes if not all the time we are the teacher so that we can learn.
what the heck happened byu!!!?? somebody was not praying hard enough. whatever, already over it haha and go broncos! sorry britton. and mom before i forget, your package is here but the problem is that the company that holds them doesnt just turn teh packages to the offices anymore and every missionary has to go sign for it personally. i was supposed to go today but they didnt call me. and yes i got the dear edler from tay and from sterl last week. love that kid sterl. how is he doing? every day im inthe mission i think how awesome sterl would be at this or that. much better than me haha but yeah i am going to send a package home soonish. i went to the dhl store because it does US and gauranteed not to be stolen haha and for one kilo.... 850 pesos to los alamos.... but hey elder arnett got his companion, elder tapp, i like him. from idaho falls, and i feel so cool when he asks me what a phrase means or a word and i know it! haha just a little pat on the back, but the real point of the story is this, they are working with an inactive member that is one of the mayor heads of mexico dhl and he gave them a password or something to get the packages across cheap. so yeah i need to talk to them. I am making a commitment right now to send a package with letters and coopers and jennys presents by the end of the this month.
which brings me to my next point, the debit card from home doesnt work... haha i tried it and it said no and i tried again and it said incorrect number so idk what to do. i used the number mom gave me. so yeah mom if you could work onthat that would be great cause i need money for coopers jersey and the package... no rush or anything haha but really thanks mom.
ok my week.... well the beginning was with elder arnett and yeah it was interesting knocking and teaching as a threesome haha elder arnett is kind of loud and fun and very likable, so likable that all of our investigadores were sad when he did come after he got his companion and just looked at us like... where is the other one? haha but hey what can you do. speaking of our investigadores, the family gonzalez put their date as the 5th of december so yeah totally crushing seeing as we were hoping for next week. wendy, our most favorite and best moved!! and we dont have her cell to track her down haha very very frustrating but we are going to go to her street and knock every door until we find news. and yeah no baptisms, no new investigadores, it is hard right now. but yeah we have interviews tomorrow with the presidente so that should get me fired back up haha we went go karting today. the zone leaders crashed into the tire wall and totally destroyed it haha sorry random but yeah i had to speak in church again yesterday. 25 minutes on la obra misional. probably the best talk i have ever written but yeah not the best presented ever haha i felt comfortable speaking and when i didnt know a word i would just turn around and ask the bishop. so yeah it was pretty cool.
so yeah i am going to go ahead and slowly being to wrap this up. I dont ahve many exciting stories this week. almost got eaten by a huge dog but that was about it. next week. hold it!! totally almost forgot! i married a preson this week haha or at least i was there and they were an investigadora and i payed for it! (800 pesos.. ridiculous) haha but yeah it was very, hold hands, this is what a marraige means and yeah sign here. haha regardless it was still very cool and i just hope mine is more exciting haha jk
it has rained for two days straight, bring on the sun. dont need portland right now. and yes mom another sweater would be wonderful!!! like just one to be in the house or even anther for the work. everything else is holding up pretty well.
alright guys im heading out. I love you all and hope to hear from you all again. do great and know that i and our loving Heavenly Father care and think about you often. i GET TO HELP WITH THE TEMPLE THIS WEEK!!! kind of excited haha ill tell you how it goes
to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Westley G. Christensen
p.s. sometimes camping is fun?.... haha
Thursday, October 16, 2008
viviendo la sueno.. Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 8:37 PM
hey guys
so yeah it was another crazy monday, i want to send off a thing of letters, not through the pouch cause it is ridiculously slow, like 5 months, so yeah idk when im going to do that. so tay, t money sterl and nadar, it is all coming. i just dont know when haha. but i appreciate all of your letters and i hope that you are all doing very well
next, coop, my main man!!! the big 14 now, eso!! haha thats so terrrific man, im really pumped that you had such a cool birthday. i have had the pleasure to view a touch and idk, its a lot of money, but it can also be a great tool. just take care of it so i can steal it when i get home. but yeah your growing up man, its been a bummer not being able to be there for your last two birthdays but i want to let you know that i love you and think about you all the time. work on your patience and ability to talk with others, like mom and dad. that is what my president has me working on right now, patience, so if you can master it like i know you can, youre going to be a bomb missionary. which reminds me, yeah we need some help haha so if you guys want to fast as a family that would be awesome. we are working on a mom that needs a desire to be baptized. hermana gonzalez, i love her but she just doesnt see the importance. any help would be awesome
k my week really fast, this is ridiculous having to right this late and this little haha i know you will all understand hopefullly
so yeah i did have time to organize my thoughts so here it goes
wednesday we were in a lesson with a family and the hermano looks over and says, how are you feeling to me and i was like uh a little weird but nothing really and he pointed to his eye and i went to look in the mirror and my left eye had swollen, or the skin around it, till it was like four times the size of the other one haha i had a good laugh about it and took pictures which i will share later but yeah i just slapped an alovera leaf on it and the next morning it was great. i couldnt tell you what really happen haha apparently alo vera heals infects too, didnt know that
we are still with elder arnett. we have him again for this week because mexico has really closed the border to the US.
but yeah no new investigators and we had a baptism planned for this sunday but it fell through because we had interviews with the president which leads into my last story before i have to run
saturday we get told that we have interviews with the president, and not regular ones, with the president the next day. so we go to the offices and elder arnett talked first for an hour and comes out grinning praising the presidents name. he is going to be the same. elder tolosa next and an hour later comes out and i pick my back pack up to go and the president calls me over to his office. i was surprised cause they had told me that i wasnt going to talk with the president but yeah i go in and he is just like, how are you doing friend? and i am like, im doing pretty good president. and yeah we just had an awesome discussion about everything. the president was like are you a prefectionist? and yeah i expect alot of myself and hence others. and he was jsut like, when you came in the door i just saw a younger me and yeah you remind me alot of myself. obviously i had to brush my shoulder haha jk but yeah he just gave me a lot of advice, how i need to be able to control that... idk characteristic sometimes with others, because we all start from different points. and yeah he is just so cool and he was just saying all this stuff about me that he didnt know and was just like i feel that you have something to give elder tolosa, i wanted to change you two after that night but i feel that you need to give him something. and i had felt the same way and yeah haha it was an awesome experience. i truely love him and know that he is called of god. he ended with a elder, i know the language is difficult and if you are like me which you are, it is going to take a little bit longer, but i need to grow up quick. and he gave me a blessing and shook my hand.
one of the greatest men i know...
so yeah other news haha i ate cactus.. not as fun as it sounds haha it was ok, just kind of slimy. and yeah..... i cant think of anything else. danielle im sorry, its rough sometimes but when we are struggling we know that we are trying
i read my patriartical blessing. i cant spell, again and one line totally hit me in the face, speaking about my mission
broaden your shoulders, prepare yourself to be a light and stand to others, and do not fear man.
obviously it says it a lot cooler but that is the jist
dont be afraid to be amazing, president mendoza of south africa, look it up
and tay i wish i could write you something but i got to run. sorry you are wearing sweaters, i wore shorts and a t shirt and i was hot today haha
k i love you all and hope the best for you. thank you for your prayers and love, you are all an example to me. i know our savior lives and that he knows each one of us if we take the time to get to know him. happy birthday jen. to the moon and back.....
con amor
Elder Westley Gene Christensen
so yeah it was another crazy monday, i want to send off a thing of letters, not through the pouch cause it is ridiculously slow, like 5 months, so yeah idk when im going to do that. so tay, t money sterl and nadar, it is all coming. i just dont know when haha. but i appreciate all of your letters and i hope that you are all doing very well
next, coop, my main man!!! the big 14 now, eso!! haha thats so terrrific man, im really pumped that you had such a cool birthday. i have had the pleasure to view a touch and idk, its a lot of money, but it can also be a great tool. just take care of it so i can steal it when i get home. but yeah your growing up man, its been a bummer not being able to be there for your last two birthdays but i want to let you know that i love you and think about you all the time. work on your patience and ability to talk with others, like mom and dad. that is what my president has me working on right now, patience, so if you can master it like i know you can, youre going to be a bomb missionary. which reminds me, yeah we need some help haha so if you guys want to fast as a family that would be awesome. we are working on a mom that needs a desire to be baptized. hermana gonzalez, i love her but she just doesnt see the importance. any help would be awesome
k my week really fast, this is ridiculous having to right this late and this little haha i know you will all understand hopefullly
so yeah i did have time to organize my thoughts so here it goes
wednesday we were in a lesson with a family and the hermano looks over and says, how are you feeling to me and i was like uh a little weird but nothing really and he pointed to his eye and i went to look in the mirror and my left eye had swollen, or the skin around it, till it was like four times the size of the other one haha i had a good laugh about it and took pictures which i will share later but yeah i just slapped an alovera leaf on it and the next morning it was great. i couldnt tell you what really happen haha apparently alo vera heals infects too, didnt know that
we are still with elder arnett. we have him again for this week because mexico has really closed the border to the US.
but yeah no new investigators and we had a baptism planned for this sunday but it fell through because we had interviews with the president which leads into my last story before i have to run
saturday we get told that we have interviews with the president, and not regular ones, with the president the next day. so we go to the offices and elder arnett talked first for an hour and comes out grinning praising the presidents name. he is going to be the same. elder tolosa next and an hour later comes out and i pick my back pack up to go and the president calls me over to his office. i was surprised cause they had told me that i wasnt going to talk with the president but yeah i go in and he is just like, how are you doing friend? and i am like, im doing pretty good president. and yeah we just had an awesome discussion about everything. the president was like are you a prefectionist? and yeah i expect alot of myself and hence others. and he was jsut like, when you came in the door i just saw a younger me and yeah you remind me alot of myself. obviously i had to brush my shoulder haha jk but yeah he just gave me a lot of advice, how i need to be able to control that... idk characteristic sometimes with others, because we all start from different points. and yeah he is just so cool and he was just saying all this stuff about me that he didnt know and was just like i feel that you have something to give elder tolosa, i wanted to change you two after that night but i feel that you need to give him something. and i had felt the same way and yeah haha it was an awesome experience. i truely love him and know that he is called of god. he ended with a elder, i know the language is difficult and if you are like me which you are, it is going to take a little bit longer, but i need to grow up quick. and he gave me a blessing and shook my hand.
one of the greatest men i know...
so yeah other news haha i ate cactus.. not as fun as it sounds haha it was ok, just kind of slimy. and yeah..... i cant think of anything else. danielle im sorry, its rough sometimes but when we are struggling we know that we are trying
i read my patriartical blessing. i cant spell, again and one line totally hit me in the face, speaking about my mission
broaden your shoulders, prepare yourself to be a light and stand to others, and do not fear man.
obviously it says it a lot cooler but that is the jist
dont be afraid to be amazing, president mendoza of south africa, look it up
and tay i wish i could write you something but i got to run. sorry you are wearing sweaters, i wore shorts and a t shirt and i was hot today haha
k i love you all and hope the best for you. thank you for your prayers and love, you are all an example to me. i know our savior lives and that he knows each one of us if we take the time to get to know him. happy birthday jen. to the moon and back.....
con amor
Elder Westley Gene Christensen
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Westley! Sent: Tuesday October 7, 8:15am
hola familia
k yeah so i know that it is tuesday and i was supposed to write yesterday
but yeah yesterday was lame haha transfers and nonsense all day long and
than i didn´t have time to write back to any of your emails. i´m pretty
sure i´m not breaking any rules by writing because it wasn´t my choice not
to write and it´s a requirement that i write my family every week so here i
am haha no i´m here not only because it is a requirement haha love you
guys. sorry about the stress to everyone that was concerned, mom. but yeah
i´m just going to go ahead and talk about my week real fast and yeah great
stuff.
we can start with yesterday because it was the most interesting. cambios,
or transfers, came in on sunday night and they were my first. i´can´t
believe that i have been in mexico for 6 weeks, i still feel like i don´t
know anything. that is because i don´t haha but yeah so elder tolosa and i
are still together and he is still the district leader. but two of the
five americans from my zone went home this week. elder doyle, who i
liked and was my zone leader and elder hewirzon or something haha i didn´t
know him very well but they were good. they were really excited to go home
though, like elder doyle just got in the car and wanted to leave without
saying bye or pictures and it just made me wonder how i´m going to feel
when i´m done, whether the president is going to have to box me up to get
me out of here or i´ll be like them. i´m hoping the first but as of right
now that´s not really it. but i expect that to change. other cambios,
elder arnett the other american in my district, his companion the one that
i went to the df with and is yeah.. needs to go home, got transfered but
elder arnett stayed and is going to be a dad!! to an american!! very
exciting because i won´t be the baby anymore haha but yeah they are having
visa problems still so it could be a week before he comes. thus elder
arnett is pulling a kind of threesome with us during the morning and
evening but on splits with members during the day. i´m just hoping that i
know more spanish than the new kid haha that could be another humbling
experience haha but elder arnett will be good, he is kind of like uncle
aaron football type doesn´t put up with crap. oh yeah new zone leader,
amercian , elder brown, i like him but it is his first time as zl so we
will have to see how he does. we also have hermanas again... but they are
not in my district haha i didn´t mean anything by that at all. yesterday
we just had to carry their beds from the zl house to their new house on our
backs to two miles. good memories. i enjoyed it.
our investigadores, i can´t spell in english haha but yeah found ivonne,
the single mom, and yeah doesn´t want anything to do with us. i think her
ex had something to do with it but whatever. elder tolosa didn´t seem to
mind much and my zone for the most part didn´t seem to mind that we were
the lowest baptizing zone in the mission. yeah... idk it´s way frustrating,
but í´m going to make the best of the next six weeks because i´m not going
to have a mediocar, i dont know how to spell, mission. idk, elder tolosa
and i have to have a heart to heart here pretty soon. other investigadores,
wendy, from the familia mota has become the most interested in our message
so yeah we are hoping to have a baptism this week with her and her
daughter, the rest of the family... yeah we need to work harder. haha sigh
haha familia gonzalez, idk what´s happening, we have taught all the lessons
and they love us but the mom is this like, why is this important to me? so
yeah, but i felt a couple impressions last night to bear my testimory to
her that this is the greatest gift that we have to offer. we will see how
it goes. and yeah we have a couple new families but nothing really serious.
i tracted for 6 hours every day last week, knocked soo many doors with so
many nos, but yeah i liked it haha
so yeah two funny stories really fast, once during one of my 6 hour
tracting i was talking to this lady and i felt something touch my head so i
thought it was a butterfly or whatever, its mexico haha and so i brushed it
off. and i´m still talking and it touches my head again and so i brush it
off again and thus as the conversation is coming to an end the thing full
on grabs my head and i freak out! i´m all waving my arms and my backpack is
going everywhere and im making weird sounds and i look up to see a branch
perfectly placed to my height rocking back and forth. needless to say the
lady left the crazy american alone...haha
second, we were coming back from a lunch appointment and i was eating an
apple and was at the core . we happened to be in a park at the time with
basketball hoops and so i tell elder tolosa to watch and of course i make
it from the courner like kobe and i keep walking trying to be humble about
it. however... there was a lady cop that happened to be sitting in her
truck doing nothing and felt the need to tell me to go pick up my trash
from the pile of trash that it eventually landed in and dispose of it
properly. that apple core could have fed a starving dog. haha elder tolosa
had a good laugh about it.
so yeah little side note, we got a cell phone from the president because he
gave them to all the district leaders. elder tolosa is like a little kid
with a game boy, haha sometimes i want to step on it. but yeah if you ever
want to hit us up with a text the number is... no se crea! haha i´m still
fighting the good fight.
general conference
amazing haha i don´t know if it was just because i am on a mission or in
mexico or something but the parts that i heard were amazing. i saw parts
for two reasons. first it was in spanish for the saturday session. oh
yeah totally watched the saturday sessions for the first time in my life,
they are actually really good too haha should have watched those more when
i was younger... but yeah we eventually got a tv for the americans to watch
it english and that´s when i was like wow this is amazing. in spansih i
could understand the jist of what they were saying and with one translator
that i loved, understood all, but it just didn´t have the say effect. it´s
like the translators eat the mike and try to talk haha but it was great.
sunday the tv was taken to be used in another classroom for everyone that
came. i mean people were sitting in the hall, floor, anywhere you could
fit a person in the stake center. and thirty minutes into it, the power
went out... it happens here randomly, like the water haha but yeah i didn´t
watch any except the first and last thirty minutes on sunday. going to have
to wait for the ensign. but yeah the parts i liked, yes talyre the
childerns choir, i was just wondering if the passed out juice or something
to keep them awake haha and yeah i gues dad and coop with have to explain
and a young gentleman from byu but the first presidency in the priesthood
session. i can´t describe it. it felt like ever talk was directed at me
and freaking rocked. the submarine, i command you to turn around! bein
chito. and president monson, the three things we need to do, do what you
need to do, be what you need to be and yeah great stuff, i´m looking
forward to studying more when the ensign comes.
and mom i am on the look out for a package, we have a zone conferecnce
manana so maybe.. haha no but sometime soon hopefully.
k i got to run but i love you all and that reminds me, danielle, sometimes
we need to change a little bit of our imperfections before we can hope for
more from others. have patience with crazy people. i mean look at me haha
i meant my companion. i can always do better.
and jen and coop, sorry about the stress but you´re both amazing, keep it
up. i´m thinking of a jersey for coop and idk for jenny. so coop, look up
on ps2 the mexicna soccer clubs and see which one you like. and jenny,
anything haha and the jerseys are around 500 pesos.. yeah so mom and dad
haha
k really i got to go but i love you all so much with all of my heart and i
pray for you ofter. you are my foundation.
to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Westley Gene Christensen
k yeah so i know that it is tuesday and i was supposed to write yesterday
but yeah yesterday was lame haha transfers and nonsense all day long and
than i didn´t have time to write back to any of your emails. i´m pretty
sure i´m not breaking any rules by writing because it wasn´t my choice not
to write and it´s a requirement that i write my family every week so here i
am haha no i´m here not only because it is a requirement haha love you
guys. sorry about the stress to everyone that was concerned, mom. but yeah
i´m just going to go ahead and talk about my week real fast and yeah great
stuff.
we can start with yesterday because it was the most interesting. cambios,
or transfers, came in on sunday night and they were my first. i´can´t
believe that i have been in mexico for 6 weeks, i still feel like i don´t
know anything. that is because i don´t haha but yeah so elder tolosa and i
are still together and he is still the district leader. but two of the
five americans from my zone went home this week. elder doyle, who i
liked and was my zone leader and elder hewirzon or something haha i didn´t
know him very well but they were good. they were really excited to go home
though, like elder doyle just got in the car and wanted to leave without
saying bye or pictures and it just made me wonder how i´m going to feel
when i´m done, whether the president is going to have to box me up to get
me out of here or i´ll be like them. i´m hoping the first but as of right
now that´s not really it. but i expect that to change. other cambios,
elder arnett the other american in my district, his companion the one that
i went to the df with and is yeah.. needs to go home, got transfered but
elder arnett stayed and is going to be a dad!! to an american!! very
exciting because i won´t be the baby anymore haha but yeah they are having
visa problems still so it could be a week before he comes. thus elder
arnett is pulling a kind of threesome with us during the morning and
evening but on splits with members during the day. i´m just hoping that i
know more spanish than the new kid haha that could be another humbling
experience haha but elder arnett will be good, he is kind of like uncle
aaron football type doesn´t put up with crap. oh yeah new zone leader,
amercian , elder brown, i like him but it is his first time as zl so we
will have to see how he does. we also have hermanas again... but they are
not in my district haha i didn´t mean anything by that at all. yesterday
we just had to carry their beds from the zl house to their new house on our
backs to two miles. good memories. i enjoyed it.
our investigadores, i can´t spell in english haha but yeah found ivonne,
the single mom, and yeah doesn´t want anything to do with us. i think her
ex had something to do with it but whatever. elder tolosa didn´t seem to
mind much and my zone for the most part didn´t seem to mind that we were
the lowest baptizing zone in the mission. yeah... idk it´s way frustrating,
but í´m going to make the best of the next six weeks because i´m not going
to have a mediocar, i dont know how to spell, mission. idk, elder tolosa
and i have to have a heart to heart here pretty soon. other investigadores,
wendy, from the familia mota has become the most interested in our message
so yeah we are hoping to have a baptism this week with her and her
daughter, the rest of the family... yeah we need to work harder. haha sigh
haha familia gonzalez, idk what´s happening, we have taught all the lessons
and they love us but the mom is this like, why is this important to me? so
yeah, but i felt a couple impressions last night to bear my testimory to
her that this is the greatest gift that we have to offer. we will see how
it goes. and yeah we have a couple new families but nothing really serious.
i tracted for 6 hours every day last week, knocked soo many doors with so
many nos, but yeah i liked it haha
so yeah two funny stories really fast, once during one of my 6 hour
tracting i was talking to this lady and i felt something touch my head so i
thought it was a butterfly or whatever, its mexico haha and so i brushed it
off. and i´m still talking and it touches my head again and so i brush it
off again and thus as the conversation is coming to an end the thing full
on grabs my head and i freak out! i´m all waving my arms and my backpack is
going everywhere and im making weird sounds and i look up to see a branch
perfectly placed to my height rocking back and forth. needless to say the
lady left the crazy american alone...haha
second, we were coming back from a lunch appointment and i was eating an
apple and was at the core . we happened to be in a park at the time with
basketball hoops and so i tell elder tolosa to watch and of course i make
it from the courner like kobe and i keep walking trying to be humble about
it. however... there was a lady cop that happened to be sitting in her
truck doing nothing and felt the need to tell me to go pick up my trash
from the pile of trash that it eventually landed in and dispose of it
properly. that apple core could have fed a starving dog. haha elder tolosa
had a good laugh about it.
so yeah little side note, we got a cell phone from the president because he
gave them to all the district leaders. elder tolosa is like a little kid
with a game boy, haha sometimes i want to step on it. but yeah if you ever
want to hit us up with a text the number is... no se crea! haha i´m still
fighting the good fight.
general conference
amazing haha i don´t know if it was just because i am on a mission or in
mexico or something but the parts that i heard were amazing. i saw parts
for two reasons. first it was in spanish for the saturday session. oh
yeah totally watched the saturday sessions for the first time in my life,
they are actually really good too haha should have watched those more when
i was younger... but yeah we eventually got a tv for the americans to watch
it english and that´s when i was like wow this is amazing. in spansih i
could understand the jist of what they were saying and with one translator
that i loved, understood all, but it just didn´t have the say effect. it´s
like the translators eat the mike and try to talk haha but it was great.
sunday the tv was taken to be used in another classroom for everyone that
came. i mean people were sitting in the hall, floor, anywhere you could
fit a person in the stake center. and thirty minutes into it, the power
went out... it happens here randomly, like the water haha but yeah i didn´t
watch any except the first and last thirty minutes on sunday. going to have
to wait for the ensign. but yeah the parts i liked, yes talyre the
childerns choir, i was just wondering if the passed out juice or something
to keep them awake haha and yeah i gues dad and coop with have to explain
and a young gentleman from byu but the first presidency in the priesthood
session. i can´t describe it. it felt like ever talk was directed at me
and freaking rocked. the submarine, i command you to turn around! bein
chito. and president monson, the three things we need to do, do what you
need to do, be what you need to be and yeah great stuff, i´m looking
forward to studying more when the ensign comes.
and mom i am on the look out for a package, we have a zone conferecnce
manana so maybe.. haha no but sometime soon hopefully.
k i got to run but i love you all and that reminds me, danielle, sometimes
we need to change a little bit of our imperfections before we can hope for
more from others. have patience with crazy people. i mean look at me haha
i meant my companion. i can always do better.
and jen and coop, sorry about the stress but you´re both amazing, keep it
up. i´m thinking of a jersey for coop and idk for jenny. so coop, look up
on ps2 the mexicna soccer clubs and see which one you like. and jenny,
anything haha and the jerseys are around 500 pesos.. yeah so mom and dad
haha
k really i got to go but i love you all so much with all of my heart and i
pray for you ofter. you are my foundation.
to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Westley Gene Christensen
Monday, September 29, 2008
Re: Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 4:31 PM
hola famlia
well can´t lie, i loved getting letters from everyone this week, it was just one of those weeks haha but yeah sounds like cooper is doing great in soccer, always proud of that as long as he isn´t haha jk but bien hecho hermano keep up the hard work. Jenny, sounds like everything is going well for you and britton and thank you for the encouragement. before i forget, what do you two want for your birthdays. cause i´m hoping to send a package home like next cambio, transfer, or at least before christmas, which reminds me that i still need to get dad something, and no don´t argue, just let it happen and help me out with some suggestions haha you can even help pay for them if you want haha jk but yeah we will see what happens when i start collecting things. and danielle, sounds like you are rocking school which is good to hear. i´m holding back calling nmsu a high school haha jk its wonderful and just keep up the hard work. glad to hear you are making friends with your roomates, and yeah, never be afraid to go home to mom and dad, they are pretty good too.
so ill just mention these two things write now. first we had a meeting with the president on tuesday that i´ll talk about more later but he told us a couple of things. first that we are allowed to go to some tourist cites once in our mission. they are as follows teotihuacan, zocalo, y parque chapultepec. so yeah if you could just look those up for me and give some suggestions about which ones i should see and when that would be cool haha second the whole meeting was about leadership and obidience and yeah it ends up that i can only write my family emails. thanks guys
life in the mission haha
last monday the elders had a soccer game with a bunch of little mexican kids and you can guess it we won 9-10 haha it was a hard faught match but in the end, the righteous prevailed haha k sorry that was dumb
so right this last martes we had a special leadership meeting with the president for all current and future leaders, haha no not for me, my companion is district leader but yeah i went and sat in and all that good stuff but it was pretty over my head in spanish. like i´m learning more and more every day and i understand what people are saying for the most part but speaking and when they talk fast are still problems haha anyways i was trying to understand. it was way intense but completely awesome. all of the older missionaries are having trouble with the transition of presidents but i think now they know this president is for serious. i have a lot of respect for him. i also got to see elder heap for the first time since we split but it was a hand shake and a see you later cause he was going from a meeting as i was coming but hopefully i will get to see him again soon.
so this week in the work. we have no new investigadores, we found a lot of ex members that dont like us much but yeah it was pretty frustrating and it came out with elder tolosa and i getting into a lot of arguements. idk we can both do better.
ivonne, our single mom, is officially hiding from us. not helping the fustration haha but yeah she saw us the other day up the street and got in a taxi and drove the other way. so yeah idk what we aregoing to do with that. the family gonzalez the ones i love are on pause because the mom is having doubts about why the restored gospel is important so they are on pause. they are getting a lot of pressure too from their families, very catholic, it is frustrating haha but idk what to do, im thinking back to the basics, prayer and fasting. and thanks tay for your contribution, youre great.
pues nothing really happened the later end of the week, it was just cold haha i didnt see the sun for three days haha but today was flaming hot so yeah its all over the place. but yeah saturday, that was an adventure. we had a baptism planned in our chapel for that night and we showed up in morning to see the font had not drained from the last baptism i had performed the last week haha cause in mexico its too hard to just have gravity grain it for you, no you need a pump to suck it all out. yeah wasnt working this week haha so with four red buckets, and a solid hour and a half of sweat and effort we we able to pour all the water from the font to a toilet haha i enjoyed it. that is why im here, to work. whatever type it may be haha so yeah we had another baptism this week, another hijo of a previous inactive member that we brought back. alberto federico alva mora, and i did it again! but this time we get in the font and the doors to the font are closed and than the crazy kid goes, i don´t want to do this right anymore, he is nine haha i was like what? but we worked it out with another elder and we did the ordinance and i had to do it twice because his feet shot up haha but it was good and that we went to kfc after to celebrate! haha not my favorite but i ate it. domingo, another adventure. had to wake up at 430 to start the font for a baptism at 8 for my favorite family every, the family soto, love them. we had their two kids scheduled for that morning. but yeah we had to leave at 430 on a 30 minute walk to the chapel cause taxis are not same at that hour and i didn´t have my sweater cause an elder stole it from me haha so i had an old mexican blanket around my top and my bronco plad sweats on the bottom haha great times. but yeah their baptisms were amazing. the dad did it and i was standing in the restroom on the sideline coaching haha it was great. jorge and mirian, love them. so yeah i didnt think that i had to do anything cause of the dad doing the ordinance and elder tolosa conducting and then the mom asks me to bear my testimony... simple but sweet. just my style haha im not going to say i cried cause i didnt but.. yeah love that family.
just to clarify for everyone, 15th de septimbre is the day of independce, cinco de mayo is not a national holiday haha i was shocked as well.
k i love you all and pray for you often. thanks for everything and i´ll be looking for the package soon i think. love you all!! to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Christensen
well can´t lie, i loved getting letters from everyone this week, it was just one of those weeks haha but yeah sounds like cooper is doing great in soccer, always proud of that as long as he isn´t haha jk but bien hecho hermano keep up the hard work. Jenny, sounds like everything is going well for you and britton and thank you for the encouragement. before i forget, what do you two want for your birthdays. cause i´m hoping to send a package home like next cambio, transfer, or at least before christmas, which reminds me that i still need to get dad something, and no don´t argue, just let it happen and help me out with some suggestions haha you can even help pay for them if you want haha jk but yeah we will see what happens when i start collecting things. and danielle, sounds like you are rocking school which is good to hear. i´m holding back calling nmsu a high school haha jk its wonderful and just keep up the hard work. glad to hear you are making friends with your roomates, and yeah, never be afraid to go home to mom and dad, they are pretty good too.
so ill just mention these two things write now. first we had a meeting with the president on tuesday that i´ll talk about more later but he told us a couple of things. first that we are allowed to go to some tourist cites once in our mission. they are as follows teotihuacan, zocalo, y parque chapultepec. so yeah if you could just look those up for me and give some suggestions about which ones i should see and when that would be cool haha second the whole meeting was about leadership and obidience and yeah it ends up that i can only write my family emails. thanks guys
life in the mission haha
last monday the elders had a soccer game with a bunch of little mexican kids and you can guess it we won 9-10 haha it was a hard faught match but in the end, the righteous prevailed haha k sorry that was dumb
so right this last martes we had a special leadership meeting with the president for all current and future leaders, haha no not for me, my companion is district leader but yeah i went and sat in and all that good stuff but it was pretty over my head in spanish. like i´m learning more and more every day and i understand what people are saying for the most part but speaking and when they talk fast are still problems haha anyways i was trying to understand. it was way intense but completely awesome. all of the older missionaries are having trouble with the transition of presidents but i think now they know this president is for serious. i have a lot of respect for him. i also got to see elder heap for the first time since we split but it was a hand shake and a see you later cause he was going from a meeting as i was coming but hopefully i will get to see him again soon.
so this week in the work. we have no new investigadores, we found a lot of ex members that dont like us much but yeah it was pretty frustrating and it came out with elder tolosa and i getting into a lot of arguements. idk we can both do better.
ivonne, our single mom, is officially hiding from us. not helping the fustration haha but yeah she saw us the other day up the street and got in a taxi and drove the other way. so yeah idk what we aregoing to do with that. the family gonzalez the ones i love are on pause because the mom is having doubts about why the restored gospel is important so they are on pause. they are getting a lot of pressure too from their families, very catholic, it is frustrating haha but idk what to do, im thinking back to the basics, prayer and fasting. and thanks tay for your contribution, youre great.
pues nothing really happened the later end of the week, it was just cold haha i didnt see the sun for three days haha but today was flaming hot so yeah its all over the place. but yeah saturday, that was an adventure. we had a baptism planned in our chapel for that night and we showed up in morning to see the font had not drained from the last baptism i had performed the last week haha cause in mexico its too hard to just have gravity grain it for you, no you need a pump to suck it all out. yeah wasnt working this week haha so with four red buckets, and a solid hour and a half of sweat and effort we we able to pour all the water from the font to a toilet haha i enjoyed it. that is why im here, to work. whatever type it may be haha so yeah we had another baptism this week, another hijo of a previous inactive member that we brought back. alberto federico alva mora, and i did it again! but this time we get in the font and the doors to the font are closed and than the crazy kid goes, i don´t want to do this right anymore, he is nine haha i was like what? but we worked it out with another elder and we did the ordinance and i had to do it twice because his feet shot up haha but it was good and that we went to kfc after to celebrate! haha not my favorite but i ate it. domingo, another adventure. had to wake up at 430 to start the font for a baptism at 8 for my favorite family every, the family soto, love them. we had their two kids scheduled for that morning. but yeah we had to leave at 430 on a 30 minute walk to the chapel cause taxis are not same at that hour and i didn´t have my sweater cause an elder stole it from me haha so i had an old mexican blanket around my top and my bronco plad sweats on the bottom haha great times. but yeah their baptisms were amazing. the dad did it and i was standing in the restroom on the sideline coaching haha it was great. jorge and mirian, love them. so yeah i didnt think that i had to do anything cause of the dad doing the ordinance and elder tolosa conducting and then the mom asks me to bear my testimony... simple but sweet. just my style haha im not going to say i cried cause i didnt but.. yeah love that family.
just to clarify for everyone, 15th de septimbre is the day of independce, cinco de mayo is not a national holiday haha i was shocked as well.
k i love you all and pray for you often. thanks for everything and i´ll be looking for the package soon i think. love you all!! to the moon and back...
con amor
Elder Christensen
Monday, September 22, 2008
One baptism done, hundreds to go Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 5:11 PM
hola everyone
well Im a little short on time right now so i cant write a whole lot to your emails but i did get them and they are all wonderful, sounds like everyone and everyteam is rocking which is always good news. so im going to just start with the beginning of the week and go from there and possibly answer some questions on the way.
lunes
so yeah we had the biggest national holiday in mexico. biggest disappointment ever haha i mean there was noise all night but it wasnt anything that i was expecting. it didnt help that it was raining... again... i could totally live in portland after this haha its ridiculous but yeah so mention on the disobient side, we were suppposed to be in our apartment by 6.
martes
we had surprise interviews with the president on tuesday, mine consided of, yeah this mission is in the hole with dissobientience and that the new americans that havent been affected yet are the ones that need to make the change, so yeah it was kind of a heavy discussion but i like my president very much, and really he was just asking me to be strong. most of the elders dont like him however which is the problem. also tuesday i had pig skin stew.. yeah way gross. felt like eating straight chewy fat but elder tolosa gave me the eye so i ate the whole thing. not going to miss that
miercoles
we totally have a new awesome family, the motas, five girls, a grandmother three daughters and a granddaughter. they love us and ask loads of questions that are rreally good and we had them pray about our message right there and susan the oldest daughter stopped the the prayer and struggled to the end and with tears told us that she felt the love of her heavenly father. its those moments that make it all worth it. only problem is they smoke like chimneys... yeah we are working on it.
jueves
went to the df with all my buddies from the mtc to finish our visas, love seeing them and hearing their experiences, i have seen everyone except elder heap. he is out there, but yeah it was great to see them and i saw elder ashcraft again... haha yeah so he had a huge scab on his head from getting hit in the head by a firework on the 15th.. he told people he ran into a pole but elder memmott told me the truth. to say i enjoyed it is to put it lightly haha good times. that morning i did lunges too... worst decision ever, totally almost died, couldnt walk for days after haha everything hurt. im going to wait for the next attempt
viernes sabado
i had my firt baptism! i performed it and did it perfect the first time. we had eight planned for this week and yeah people felt pressure from family or didnt show, very discouraging, i was ready to call quits cause i was so frustrated cause i know it has to do with our my companions disobiendience. idk, i can always do better too
domingo
well yeah appartently every third sunday the missionaries speak for the duration of sacrament, which has a lot to hyms, but noone to play the piano. so yeah i talked about prayer for 20 minutes in spanish with a lot of stuttering and blank looks but elder tolosa said that everything made sense so i felt better. it was intense though haha also am learning how to play the piano again, because we have two hours of church meeting that we dont have anything so i went and played closer my god to thee for an hour. i dont want to brag but its pretty awesome. haha no but with practice.
ok packages are a no go, i dont have an address yet and the one you have is wrong so yeah tomorrow maybe ill talk to someone. money is simple, the first day they gave us a debit card and we get about 900 pesos for the month, which i learned a little late so now i have 50 for the rest of the month haha totally doable, im not worried.
alright im off to a meeting but i love all of you and im glad you are all doing great things, dad great job on the raise and cooper, goals are great, but making others better is what makes a great team. i know you know that and i trust you are doing your best. you are all amazing and wonderful and i am working hard to be the missionary you and our heavenly father want me to be.
con amor
elder christensen
well Im a little short on time right now so i cant write a whole lot to your emails but i did get them and they are all wonderful, sounds like everyone and everyteam is rocking which is always good news. so im going to just start with the beginning of the week and go from there and possibly answer some questions on the way.
lunes
so yeah we had the biggest national holiday in mexico. biggest disappointment ever haha i mean there was noise all night but it wasnt anything that i was expecting. it didnt help that it was raining... again... i could totally live in portland after this haha its ridiculous but yeah so mention on the disobient side, we were suppposed to be in our apartment by 6.
martes
we had surprise interviews with the president on tuesday, mine consided of, yeah this mission is in the hole with dissobientience and that the new americans that havent been affected yet are the ones that need to make the change, so yeah it was kind of a heavy discussion but i like my president very much, and really he was just asking me to be strong. most of the elders dont like him however which is the problem. also tuesday i had pig skin stew.. yeah way gross. felt like eating straight chewy fat but elder tolosa gave me the eye so i ate the whole thing. not going to miss that
miercoles
we totally have a new awesome family, the motas, five girls, a grandmother three daughters and a granddaughter. they love us and ask loads of questions that are rreally good and we had them pray about our message right there and susan the oldest daughter stopped the the prayer and struggled to the end and with tears told us that she felt the love of her heavenly father. its those moments that make it all worth it. only problem is they smoke like chimneys... yeah we are working on it.
jueves
went to the df with all my buddies from the mtc to finish our visas, love seeing them and hearing their experiences, i have seen everyone except elder heap. he is out there, but yeah it was great to see them and i saw elder ashcraft again... haha yeah so he had a huge scab on his head from getting hit in the head by a firework on the 15th.. he told people he ran into a pole but elder memmott told me the truth. to say i enjoyed it is to put it lightly haha good times. that morning i did lunges too... worst decision ever, totally almost died, couldnt walk for days after haha everything hurt. im going to wait for the next attempt
viernes sabado
i had my firt baptism! i performed it and did it perfect the first time. we had eight planned for this week and yeah people felt pressure from family or didnt show, very discouraging, i was ready to call quits cause i was so frustrated cause i know it has to do with our my companions disobiendience. idk, i can always do better too
domingo
well yeah appartently every third sunday the missionaries speak for the duration of sacrament, which has a lot to hyms, but noone to play the piano. so yeah i talked about prayer for 20 minutes in spanish with a lot of stuttering and blank looks but elder tolosa said that everything made sense so i felt better. it was intense though haha also am learning how to play the piano again, because we have two hours of church meeting that we dont have anything so i went and played closer my god to thee for an hour. i dont want to brag but its pretty awesome. haha no but with practice.
ok packages are a no go, i dont have an address yet and the one you have is wrong so yeah tomorrow maybe ill talk to someone. money is simple, the first day they gave us a debit card and we get about 900 pesos for the month, which i learned a little late so now i have 50 for the rest of the month haha totally doable, im not worried.
alright im off to a meeting but i love all of you and im glad you are all doing great things, dad great job on the raise and cooper, goals are great, but making others better is what makes a great team. i know you know that and i trust you are doing your best. you are all amazing and wonderful and i am working hard to be the missionary you and our heavenly father want me to be.
con amor
elder christensen
Monday, September 15, 2008
The First Mexico Letter Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 5:00 PM
I am having the worst possible luck with computers, i was about to send this ridiculously long one with everything that i wanted to say and than the power went off.. I hate myself but here is my second try, so sorry
last week I had to go to the actual Mexico city to finish my visa papers and yeah we got back and elder tolosa was being dumb and we had no time to send anything so that's what happened
i love your letters and I'm glad that everyone is doing well and i wrote you all something but yeah frustrating haha
I'm going to abbreviate everything that i said before really fast cause I'm running out of time again, so we have some pretty awesome investigators. one single mom loves us and had a really rough life before she met us and it was all because of her ex husband and yeah really bad stuff, the gospel does truly find the meek and humble but yeah she knows that our message is true but the only hurdle that we have faced is the law of chasity.. yeah kind of ironic because it is with her terrible ex husband so yeah that is kind of a downer but just like in track you have to kick down and keep going, it doesn't have to be pretty but it just has to work. she is set to be baptized this Saturday with another family, gonzalez, family of four and wonderful, the dad let us in and cried the first time that we sang and prayed for his family, they have the most awesome little boys but yeah i love them. and the last ones are an inactive family where the dad wants to baptize the kids but wasn't worthy so we are working with them to make it happen. the family soto, i can not express how much I love everything about them!! ahah but really their little boy, so tight, i taught him how to pound it with the knuckles and explode, we are close haha and i totally cried twice in one lesson. elder tolosa refused to teach the lesson, which he does when he wants me to practice my Spanish but yeah i taught about testimonies and than we practiced bearing them because the next Sunday was fast Sunday, i totally cried when the mother, who knows the gospel is true but quiet about it i guess, bore her sweet and simple testimony. I don't cry!! haha ok well i do but not for other peoples testimonies haha but i cried again when Jorge the little boy blessed the food cause he totally messed it all up but I felt the love and the effort so much, he was all embarrassed but I gave him a knuckle and it was all good again, I love them!!!
the food is OK, haha im probably not going to miss it as of right now, there have been some plates that i have enjoyed but really it is all kind of bland, and hot haha but i like it enough, I have tried everything that has been placed in from of me and the only really crazy thing so far has been cow nerves in vinager.... yeah gross and i had to have seconds ahah but it was worth the experience?... no haha my apartment is pretty sweet, i enjoy it except when elder tolosa sets off fireworks haha i try to tell him to stop. Mexican independence day today, supposed to be two days of noise and alcohol haha cant wait. but yeah my mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the world and probably one of the most disobedient.... it is frustrating but i will be the missionary mom thinks that I am =)
K i got to jet but I love you all and you are all very wonderful. i live in coacalco or heroes coacalco, mexico. the packages, just send ups to my mission home or a members home but I haven't worked that out. we don't have maids, only members that clean our clothes.
k really i love you all and sorry about the letter again, i will get better at it
love love love
elder christensen
last week I had to go to the actual Mexico city to finish my visa papers and yeah we got back and elder tolosa was being dumb and we had no time to send anything so that's what happened
i love your letters and I'm glad that everyone is doing well and i wrote you all something but yeah frustrating haha
I'm going to abbreviate everything that i said before really fast cause I'm running out of time again, so we have some pretty awesome investigators. one single mom loves us and had a really rough life before she met us and it was all because of her ex husband and yeah really bad stuff, the gospel does truly find the meek and humble but yeah she knows that our message is true but the only hurdle that we have faced is the law of chasity.. yeah kind of ironic because it is with her terrible ex husband so yeah that is kind of a downer but just like in track you have to kick down and keep going, it doesn't have to be pretty but it just has to work. she is set to be baptized this Saturday with another family, gonzalez, family of four and wonderful, the dad let us in and cried the first time that we sang and prayed for his family, they have the most awesome little boys but yeah i love them. and the last ones are an inactive family where the dad wants to baptize the kids but wasn't worthy so we are working with them to make it happen. the family soto, i can not express how much I love everything about them!! ahah but really their little boy, so tight, i taught him how to pound it with the knuckles and explode, we are close haha and i totally cried twice in one lesson. elder tolosa refused to teach the lesson, which he does when he wants me to practice my Spanish but yeah i taught about testimonies and than we practiced bearing them because the next Sunday was fast Sunday, i totally cried when the mother, who knows the gospel is true but quiet about it i guess, bore her sweet and simple testimony. I don't cry!! haha ok well i do but not for other peoples testimonies haha but i cried again when Jorge the little boy blessed the food cause he totally messed it all up but I felt the love and the effort so much, he was all embarrassed but I gave him a knuckle and it was all good again, I love them!!!
the food is OK, haha im probably not going to miss it as of right now, there have been some plates that i have enjoyed but really it is all kind of bland, and hot haha but i like it enough, I have tried everything that has been placed in from of me and the only really crazy thing so far has been cow nerves in vinager.... yeah gross and i had to have seconds ahah but it was worth the experience?... no haha my apartment is pretty sweet, i enjoy it except when elder tolosa sets off fireworks haha i try to tell him to stop. Mexican independence day today, supposed to be two days of noise and alcohol haha cant wait. but yeah my mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the world and probably one of the most disobedient.... it is frustrating but i will be the missionary mom thinks that I am =)
K i got to jet but I love you all and you are all very wonderful. i live in coacalco or heroes coacalco, mexico. the packages, just send ups to my mission home or a members home but I haven't worked that out. we don't have maids, only members that clean our clothes.
k really i love you all and sorry about the letter again, i will get better at it
love love love
elder christensen
Sterling Moment
Westley's Cousin Sterling works at Nike Outlet and found some great Nike Mexico Shoes. Here is Westley sportin' the new shoes.
Westley pointing to his mission and Sterling's Mission in Perth, Australia. Amazing!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Re: Sent: Monday, September 08, 2008 4:51 PM
hey guys,
today has been ridiculous and I don´t know where my companion is and I need to be gone in ten minutes like at the church so i love you and I am so sorry this week is not going to happen. happy birthday dad!
elder christensen
today has been ridiculous and I don´t know where my companion is and I need to be gone in ten minutes like at the church so i love you and I am so sorry this week is not going to happen. happy birthday dad!
elder christensen
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Yeah I´m Totally Here Sent: Monday, September 01, 2008 4:43 PM
hola familia,
pues where to begin haha it´s good to hear that everyone is doing well. and i´m glad to hear that my sisters are all moved in and doing great with their new apartmenets. no email from cooper.... cimmon... haha proximo vez. entonces uh yeah i´m totally in mexico city haha my area is called villa de los flores, and no there and not a lot of flowers everywhere haha my companion is elder tolosa, a native from yucantan mexico. the first night we all got dropped off in our areas, he wasn´t there haha but the zone leaders were and they helped me get to my house and meet elder tolosa. on the way they needed to do a baptismal interview, one of them is from colorado otherwise I would not have known that haha but we went and one interviewed and me the other leader and the sisters who were the missionaries preparing the family sat and talked with the family. The little kid, probably six years old would talk to me and I would get nothing haha I woud just stare and than the zone leader would translate and I would answer in spanish the best I could and then the kid said something about me that everyone laughed at and I looked and the zone leader to learn that the kid thought that I talked like a video game. yeah good thing I don´t have any pride otherwise it would have been hurt. haha but yeah elder tolosa knows more spanish than he leads on, there are only a couple times every hour that we need to wip out the dictionary haha all the members have been told that I don´t speak spanish and so they practice english or say something in spanish really slow that I understand and than I do and I respond perfectly and they are like ¨you know spanish!¨and than rattle something off and I go back to the blank stare haha but yeah it has been great so far, today is my p-day, obviously, and what i didn´t know was that we spend it as a zone so we met up with them and had three hours of instruction which again, didn´t understand, and than we traveled thirty minutes on a bus haha buses anyways to another zone´s area to play basketball and soccer, it was very fun and I got to see elder memmot from my old zone. and elder ashcraft.... but i like him better now that I don´t have him as a companion haha suprising fact for the day. about thirty percent of mexicans actually play soccer, let´s just say I would be an allstar. my companion doesn´t play haha but it´s fun. I have to go tracking now so sorry I couldn´t write more. I love you all and will write more next week. Do great things.Con amor Elder ¨chístansan¨
pues where to begin haha it´s good to hear that everyone is doing well. and i´m glad to hear that my sisters are all moved in and doing great with their new apartmenets. no email from cooper.... cimmon... haha proximo vez. entonces uh yeah i´m totally in mexico city haha my area is called villa de los flores, and no there and not a lot of flowers everywhere haha my companion is elder tolosa, a native from yucantan mexico. the first night we all got dropped off in our areas, he wasn´t there haha but the zone leaders were and they helped me get to my house and meet elder tolosa. on the way they needed to do a baptismal interview, one of them is from colorado otherwise I would not have known that haha but we went and one interviewed and me the other leader and the sisters who were the missionaries preparing the family sat and talked with the family. The little kid, probably six years old would talk to me and I would get nothing haha I woud just stare and than the zone leader would translate and I would answer in spanish the best I could and then the kid said something about me that everyone laughed at and I looked and the zone leader to learn that the kid thought that I talked like a video game. yeah good thing I don´t have any pride otherwise it would have been hurt. haha but yeah elder tolosa knows more spanish than he leads on, there are only a couple times every hour that we need to wip out the dictionary haha all the members have been told that I don´t speak spanish and so they practice english or say something in spanish really slow that I understand and than I do and I respond perfectly and they are like ¨you know spanish!¨and than rattle something off and I go back to the blank stare haha but yeah it has been great so far, today is my p-day, obviously, and what i didn´t know was that we spend it as a zone so we met up with them and had three hours of instruction which again, didn´t understand, and than we traveled thirty minutes on a bus haha buses anyways to another zone´s area to play basketball and soccer, it was very fun and I got to see elder memmot from my old zone. and elder ashcraft.... but i like him better now that I don´t have him as a companion haha suprising fact for the day. about thirty percent of mexicans actually play soccer, let´s just say I would be an allstar. my companion doesn´t play haha but it´s fun. I have to go tracking now so sorry I couldn´t write more. I love you all and will write more next week. Do great things.Con amor Elder ¨chístansan¨
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Totally in Mexico...Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:11 PM
so hey gang,
Im typing from my new mission home. We had some trouble at the airport in mexico, our mission president got stuck in traffic so we havent met him yet but yeah hopefully tomorrow will be better. we have pizza now for dinner so ill talk to again on monday i think. im alive and well and totally in mexico.
elder christensen
(We got to talk to him yesterday as he was traveling airport to airport. He sounded great already so grown up.)
Im typing from my new mission home. We had some trouble at the airport in mexico, our mission president got stuck in traffic so we havent met him yet but yeah hopefully tomorrow will be better. we have pizza now for dinner so ill talk to again on monday i think. im alive and well and totally in mexico.
elder christensen
(We got to talk to him yesterday as he was traveling airport to airport. He sounded great already so grown up.)
Letter from MTC Instructor Sent:Tuesday, August 26, 2008 5:14 PM
Dear Missionary Parents,This is Brother Hallam, one of your missionary's teachers here at theMTC. What a great group of Elders we had, Elder Graham, Elder Keeling,Elder Farmer, Elder Menet, Elder Christensen, Elder Ashcraft, ElderHeap, and Elder Memmott. I just wanted to write and let you know whatgreat sons you have raised. This truly was an exceptional group, andmost of that is because of your efforts. We had a lot of fun togetherand learned much, both the missionaries and myself. They all workedhard and gave it their best, both with learning Spanish, as well aslearning how to be a missionary. They are off to the field tomorrowand are excited! I promise we did our very best to prepare them, andthat they are more than ready. These missionaries will perform a greatwork in Mexico. Our Heavenly Father needs them to be there, and theyare ready to answer the call. I'm sure it must be hard to have themgone, or at least that is what my parents have told me, but they arein good hands, the Lords. They are ready, and will do great. Thanksagain for all of your efforts to get them where they are today.Shawn Hallam
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Who Said the MTC wasn't fun? Sent:Thursday, August 21, 2008 9:48 AM
Hola familia? como estan? cualquier cosa bueno o malo? triste o falic? Entonces... I how is everyone doing? SO i'm just going to write this one letter this one letter seeing as my siblings seem to hate me haha but yeah mom or dad if you could forward this to my sisters that would be great. I will try to start writing everyone a letter just means that the big one will be shorter, idk well will see what happens. But yeah I will just start with the first letter that I got this week and see where we go from there. I'm pretty sure it was from dad but it didn't say so if it's not lo siento padre haha but yeah let's see, totally fine about the glasses, it's only ever really bad after I have been reading for a while and my eyes need time to ujust to things that aren't right there. I haven't gotten the package as of right now pero I am expecting it either today or tomorrow so esta bien.
lo siento hahasold buster? en serio? cimon... and you didn't have to pay them to take it from you too that's way impressive haha no I"m sure you and britton but a lot of effort into it, I wouldn't have minded it for college but i'll settle for the white nissan. Sounds like katie's wedding went pretty good, everyone seemed to ahve the same review of it. SOunds like mike may not be as christensen (loud) as we would like but hey either was britton at first but we always get them in the end haha sorry about the rain, sorry I missed out on the awesome dancing and the song, next time. I'm excited to hear how cooper's first day of school went and also the soccer. WHich he has not reported to me... we all have an opportunity to repent though haha cooper do well in school so mom and dad don't have to get mad. If you are a good student before coming to the MTC it makes it so much easier to study. Gracias por su estoria pardre sobre diezmo. We are still working on translating our experiences into spanish, it takes a little bit of time haha. congrats dad on running every day, maybe we can race again after I get back haha that's fun that you guys got to see sterling and B sounds like they are still up to their usual selves which is always good. I have a picture for sterling coming for him in my next chip, im just pointing to perth and mexico city and it's interesting to see how far it is.K mom's letter real fast.Visa's... yeah idk we have recieved our previsas which is good but we still don't know what is going to happen to us next week, we could be in the mtc, provo, georgia, or mexico so we will see. I figure you and jenny could make a conference call when I call from the airport and jenny put her cell on speaker for danielle and britton but Idk, we will get flight plans before we will worry about that. We got a letter on friday officially putting us on delay. So it wasn't a surprise but it was still disappointing. We had a fast yesterday to understand the will of our Heavenly Father, we will see what happens. I will put my trust in the Lord. Sounds like mom and Dad have the wonderful opportunity to make new friends with the soccer parents, I have faith in you guys. I would ask brad what to do and I would encourage the tournament as well. Glad to hear cooper is not suffering from a fat head yet hahaCongrats to danielle for the money!! that's awesome, way better then anything I did. Glad to hear your roomates will be a great opportunity to learn patience and grow... haha I have all the advice in the world in that area haha congrats mom on having work. Every member a missionary.SO yeah I have six minutes to talk about my week. let's do it. So yesterday I saw dan come down the hall while I was eating so I raced down the hall and met him at the end and gave him a hug and stuff. DId not think I would see him again but at dinner I was looking for him and right there in front of my was stan and dan so I sat down and chatted with them a littl bit but as I said I was ending my fast yesterday so I needed some food so I said I would write him today and tell both of them my schedule. It was good to see them though. (not sure who this next sentence is about) It was pretty good, a lot of scriptures but it was just more of his presence that made it worth going to. this week has been a lot of lessons, we have been teaching in spanish for an average of four hours a day, let's just say I miss spanish at the end of the day haha but yeah this week has been really good with elder ashcraft but the rest of the district has been kind of tense so idkWell my time is up , I love you guys and I'm sorry I can't write more about what's happening but yeah. I love you all and you're in my prayersElder ChristensenDO great!!!
lo siento hahasold buster? en serio? cimon... and you didn't have to pay them to take it from you too that's way impressive haha no I"m sure you and britton but a lot of effort into it, I wouldn't have minded it for college but i'll settle for the white nissan. Sounds like katie's wedding went pretty good, everyone seemed to ahve the same review of it. SOunds like mike may not be as christensen (loud) as we would like but hey either was britton at first but we always get them in the end haha sorry about the rain, sorry I missed out on the awesome dancing and the song, next time. I'm excited to hear how cooper's first day of school went and also the soccer. WHich he has not reported to me... we all have an opportunity to repent though haha cooper do well in school so mom and dad don't have to get mad. If you are a good student before coming to the MTC it makes it so much easier to study. Gracias por su estoria pardre sobre diezmo. We are still working on translating our experiences into spanish, it takes a little bit of time haha. congrats dad on running every day, maybe we can race again after I get back haha that's fun that you guys got to see sterling and B sounds like they are still up to their usual selves which is always good. I have a picture for sterling coming for him in my next chip, im just pointing to perth and mexico city and it's interesting to see how far it is.K mom's letter real fast.Visa's... yeah idk we have recieved our previsas which is good but we still don't know what is going to happen to us next week, we could be in the mtc, provo, georgia, or mexico so we will see. I figure you and jenny could make a conference call when I call from the airport and jenny put her cell on speaker for danielle and britton but Idk, we will get flight plans before we will worry about that. We got a letter on friday officially putting us on delay. So it wasn't a surprise but it was still disappointing. We had a fast yesterday to understand the will of our Heavenly Father, we will see what happens. I will put my trust in the Lord. Sounds like mom and Dad have the wonderful opportunity to make new friends with the soccer parents, I have faith in you guys. I would ask brad what to do and I would encourage the tournament as well. Glad to hear cooper is not suffering from a fat head yet hahaCongrats to danielle for the money!! that's awesome, way better then anything I did. Glad to hear your roomates will be a great opportunity to learn patience and grow... haha I have all the advice in the world in that area haha congrats mom on having work. Every member a missionary.SO yeah I have six minutes to talk about my week. let's do it. So yesterday I saw dan come down the hall while I was eating so I raced down the hall and met him at the end and gave him a hug and stuff. DId not think I would see him again but at dinner I was looking for him and right there in front of my was stan and dan so I sat down and chatted with them a littl bit but as I said I was ending my fast yesterday so I needed some food so I said I would write him today and tell both of them my schedule. It was good to see them though. (not sure who this next sentence is about) It was pretty good, a lot of scriptures but it was just more of his presence that made it worth going to. this week has been a lot of lessons, we have been teaching in spanish for an average of four hours a day, let's just say I miss spanish at the end of the day haha but yeah this week has been really good with elder ashcraft but the rest of the district has been kind of tense so idkWell my time is up , I love you guys and I'm sorry I can't write more about what's happening but yeah. I love you all and you're in my prayersElder ChristensenDO great!!!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Veterans of the MTC Sent:Thu, 14 Aug 2008
Hola familia!!Well it's that day again so yes here I am to write my thoughts about the last week. I guess I have to start where everyone starts the olympics!!! holy cow does lacey rock haha I'm so proud of her, obviously she probably wishes she could have done a little better with the individual but hey for a first time with all of the world's best not a bad start haha I actually found out monday morning about the silver in the relay from my teacher who has a ipod touch, which is just one of those ridiculously expensive toys that has the internet. He got on a found out for me, I felt pretty good about bragging about my cousin all day haha but yeah I am glad to hear that aunt stacey and uncle aaron are still alive... hopefully haha but yeah I'm grateful for the letters you forwarded. Sounds like they have having a great time in China. Hopefully they won't starve. But yeah great stuff and I hope they continue to have a good time.The wedding! so yeah i'm not totally sure when it's taking place but I think saturday! anyway sounds like everyone is doing great there too, congrats mom so all the hard work and congrats to all the Heath family for this great occasion, I know it will be a huge blessing in their lives. Especially to Katie, congrats cousin, love ya and all the best to you. I am excited to see pictures of it all. Again mom, i'm sure you did a great job with everything and congrats to uncle dave for showing up today haha jk love ya.I'm excited to hear about sterling and what his toughts are about the mission, hopefully he can send me an email of I'll just hear about it from you guys. That will be way exciting to hear about it.SO yeah cooper!!! chayeah!!! seriously!! couldn't think to drop to your favorite brother that you happened to make JV!!! I was going over your letter thinking like oh yeah I could probably ask him about how the 5 mile went and then I get mom's letter today and like cha! for serious!? haha that's so awesome coop, I do however take most of the credit for being a life long coach haha but yeah coop that's quite an achievment, not a lot of people can say that they have done what you are going to do. the last person i know that pulled that off was probably trever jones. AND on that note just a word of cation. Don't let it go you your head coop. You have been blessed by the lord but that doesn't make you better than anyone else. I'm very proud of you but you need to remember your who your friends are during the soccer season. Your a pretty mature kid, I have no doubts that you will make good decisions but remember to be strong to who you are and what you stand for. You are going to be picked on and teased and harassed but you need to be someone that you can be proud of. Be friends with your teammates but remember what standards you have set for yourself and that they might not have the same standards. Be strong coop, I know you will do great. Listen to the coach and work as hard as you can. I expect to hear a weekly report. I want all concerns questions and accomplishments. Being known as my little brother is not the worst thing =)Anyways haha I don't always take pictures of myself haha and If I do it's because there is nothing more exciting.Uh I guess I am done responding to everyone that wrote me.. cough cough haha jk but seriouslyok my life uh not alot has happened this week other than all different sorts of stories and rumors about visas. WE could be getting flight plans as early as tomorrow... yeah so pray hard haha it's pretty crazy being the oldest in the zone. I feel like I should know something haha but yeah it's kind of nice to have all these new missionaries that don't know anything, it helps my self esteem. I haven't seen dan yet but wednesdays are always crazy so hopefully I'll see him soon.. Uh yeah it's just crazy to think that I have been here for more that seven weeks. Idk but lets' see one funny story.... oh yeah so monday night we were jsut walking around saying good night to the new district and we were in one of their rooms and I look on the desk and an elder has a Jared Diamond Rings, little magazine and I just bust up laughing haha and I show elder memmott and he starts laughing and then the new elder goes.. " I already bought my girl a 300 dollar ring. That's all she's getting" haha so yeah MTC for you. Got a new councilor on sunday, teaches spanish at BYU haha greatOk so yeah my time is pretty much up. Love you guys, you are all wonderful and I pray for you frequently. Remember who you are and don't let it get you down haha I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again.
Love Elder Westley Gene Christensen
Love Elder Westley Gene Christensen
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