Elder Christensen: Letter 7/30/12

Hey everyone so still not a lot going on in Farmington but having better luck than the week before… so this week we had our super activity we bought out the whole section at the cardinal game it was awesome !  It was a very high scoring game the cardinals had 2 homes runs and score 7 runners total the dodgers had 4 total with no home runs.  It was very nice to see all my buddies from the mtc again elder Sims and elder Harris are my bros! Then after the game we went to forest park I love that place there is some much to do there and the people that are there are so funny.  They all thought we were selling drugs though because we were dressed in pros clothes ha ha.  I also got to meet a lot of the other missionaries at the talent show all the poly elders love me and they treated me like their own… we played rugby and football but I couldn’t really do much with my foot so I was always the QB.  Still was tons of fun I haven’t thrown a football since last summer with my cousin Steven when we hoped the fence to the Herriman high school field and played there ha ha good times !  Then after we played our games they taught me the Hakka again it’s been forever but now I know it really good again so cool!  Elder Elkington is from New Zealand and told me lots about the island and the culture there sounds so cool but he loves the states and the people here. Elder Vaka is from California and is Samoan he is playing football for Cal State when he gets back.  Elder Tiko is also Samoan he is so funny he would run into random groups of missionaries and be like HEADS UP and everyone would duck but there was no ball so funny ha ha ha ha!!  So ya me being down because of my foot really sucks but I’m getting to know the scriptures much better and I’m getting to know my companion much better as well.  He is from Cassville Utah and is the 3^rd child of 4 kids he has been on his mission 18 months and served in Farmington for 6 of them ha ha he will be a Farmington legend by the time we are done.  He is a great missionary very obedient to the rules unlike my last companion!  He and I are getting along much better now that he knows more about me and I know more about him.  Alot of the member have very god things to say about him and it always makes me feel good to because they're always saying elder Christensen is the best missionary we've had hahaha !! We are trying to get a teaching pool running but don't get any member referrals and that means lots of tracting which i cant do til hopefully this weekend ill be 100% back to normal by then so i can do more work than i have been able to do... its really depressing not being able to psychically go out and knock on doors to do the lords work. We have been visiting lots of part member families and had one family attend church this Sunday they're the Vinson's family they have a beautiful young daughter Kaleen that 17 years old and she has been the only on who come to church she has really great friends to help keep her on the path as well.  So we as missionaries are trying to get her father worthy for the priesthood and get the whole family active but its really hard to get a appointment with them they're very busy with work and kids...  I know if we can just sit down with them and talk about how the gospel blesses families and about their daughters testimony and experiences they will be so strong!:) 

Elder Christensen: Letter 7/23/12

so another week in Farmington this week was one of my favorite weeks because we did tons of tough labor i pounded down 8 poles 6 feet in the ground to hold the Pters family docks in place and i also installed a water slide for them for the pioneer day activities they will be doing i got 5 huge blisters from doing that ha ha so it was really hard to shake hands the rest of the week because they were so sensitive!! they we helped the basset family rip out all the carpet on their main floor and started restoring the old wood floor underneath it.  then the we helped brother Urling update his dental office he bought in the st Genvieve area those dental chairs are so heavy!! then he gave me some bleach for my teeth ha ha :)  Then we helped 2 new members move out from the other members home we had to lift a hot tub on to their trailer was not very easy with 2 elders and a bunch of old people lol!  so This week we tracted like mad and did get any success there but we gave out 4 book of Mormons and alot of pass along cards.... the potosi branch had a baptism this week and we filed the fount for them be we kinda forgot about it and i flooded into the hallways ha ha were making history here! So wee have tried everyday to meet up with kenrae and her father just haven't had any luck there:/ i now she is looking for a job everyday and doesn't like living with her parents so we cant really teach with the spirit there but her cousin is one of our less active members and we are trying to work through her but haven't got anything rolling yet.  So after all of our crazy service projects for the week i told my companion we deserve a lil break so we went shopping and this place, its the black market of st. Louis its in a town called paigdale so i bought  true religion  Clogne and a huge bottle or diesel and aqua di gio, and a bulls hat ha ha and some more tracting shoes just in case i burn through my old ones but they are holding up really good so we shall see ha ha then when we where is st Genvieve and the Mississippi river was right there so we had to see that its crazy how much coal and stuff goes down that river boats are like 2 miles long i took videos of it on my camera.  We have one new investigator his name is James miller he is way spiritual we are just trying to get another appointment with him but he is super busy with his job and 5 kids but we aren't giving up!  We also attend this Scripture study class every Tuesday night and we met Ron there and he is really into that class but doesn't come to Church he lives with another member but they aren't married so we are trying to see how we can get him to baptism because we feel he really wants more than what he is getting from the book of Mormon Right now.  So I'm sorry i don't have any super big spiritual experiences this week..... just lots of service...

Elder Christensen: Letter 7/9/12

So the town of Farimington is a very unique area in the fact that its the hardest area in my mission for success they haven't had any baptisms in 5 months.... but im trying my best to break that streak!! Just this week tracting we had some luck out in a town called fredricktown we did some district tracting there and we ran in to a landscape man that was from our area of farmington!! he was very open with us and wished to know more he believes alot of the same things we do. he was raised Amish bust now is menacostile? he has 5 kids and a wife so that would be alot of baptisms if we can get them ha ha We talked with him for bout and hour about how to become a member and how the Gospel has been restored in these latter days through Joseph Smith and he was very interested. Hope this one will pull through :) so Little more bout Kenrae we have been trying almost every day to try and meet up with her but her home is not a safe place to meet in so we are still trying to get a lesson in with her.... Even if we don't get the chance to baptise her at least i know that we made a difference in someones life that was deciding to end her life... You never realize how big of an influence you have on someones life til they tell you!! i had to fight back so many tears as she showed us the letter that she was gonna leave her family as she was gonna kill herself. i just hope we can get the chance to bring the gospel into her life!! my other investigators are wade, Latasha, Jenine, kenrae, josh, James, and Linda.... they all are so very different so that's why its so fun to teach them because none of them are the same !!! so more bout the area .... oh i killed my 1st snake today it was right by my protein package from my momma it was a big nasty cotton mouth snake and i was half tempted to grill it because that's good eating around here lol!! so how i killed this snake was my comp has this little machete that he uses to cut up the chicken for our dinners and stuff so i lead the snake to the concrete and just swung as hard and as fast as i could and i cut his head off ha ha !! So today for our P day we our going to hike elephant rocks its like the only thing close to a mountain here I'm gonna take lots of pictures:)

Elder Christensen: Letter 7/2/12

Pic with President and Sister Clark

Here is the latest email from Jeff. He doesn't use puctuation when he types, but I guess it is better than trying to read his handwriting! Also, Jeff has a fear of spiders, so it is probably killing him that there are so many in his apartment!

Hey so my farmington address is 1005 vandiver farmington MO i don't have the zip code?? I'm so glad i bought that fire proof safe with all the fire in herriman! but anyways my 1st area is really hard there is not alot of activity out here its hard to try and stay positive when you you have no success to look back on... this area hasn't had a baptism in 5 months now ! I'm trying my best during the discussions and juts meeting the people the ward families love me and hope that i get called as the new district leader i don't know why ?? This area is very humbling our apartment is so nasty i hate it every night I'm killing like 4 spiders and everything in dirty half the carpet is missing and the walls have stains and mold everywhere! ha ha our couches are from the 70's and they defiantly smell like it but its OK because we are hardly ever using them! We are tracting like 3 hours everyday im losing so much weight its crazy!!! the past week the average temp is 108F the hottest has been 112F and we sweat like crazy tracting in that! so my 1st investigator is wade and he is baptist like the rest f his family we have been answering alot of his questions about our church but haven't got any commitments from him yet... but staying positive:) i love president Clark and sister Clark they are amazing for our yearly district activity they are taking all of us to the Cardinals and dodgers game in 2 months so you better see me on TV ha ha jk! pretty cool story though we had an appointment with a girl named Kenrae and she bailed and her dad was gonna shut the door in our face but i said may we just talk to you about your beliefs for a minutes the we talked for like a hour and the got him to come to a Tuesday night Scripture study with brother hargis he chops hot rods and stuff so cool!! then Kenrae showed up and saw us teaching her father and couldn't believe it then she said i need to be baptised so we are hoping she will follow through with us! she has lots to improve on before then but with faith i god anything is possible ! she also talked personally with me and i found out she was planning on killing herself later this week she had a goodbye letter and everything but when she saw the light in my eyes it put hope in hers is what she told me! so i hoping that i cant help her turn her life around through the Gospel and the Church! so my mission is one of the poorest US missions so we only get 160$ a month so hopefully we start getting more member meals because I'm running out of candy ha ha ... my Mexican companion is cooking all of our meals ha ha excepting i cook pizza sometimes but his food is better! hope they get all the fires under control!!! hurry and reply i have 30 minutes to write ya back!!:)
love

Elder Christensen

Phone Call from Jeff

We got to talk to Jeff on the phone today. He called home from the airport before his plane left. I was at work, but I was able to talk. I also conferenced in Neil so that the 3 of us could all talk together. I made a few notes so that I could write about some of the things that he said.

Jeff loved the MTC. He had a great district and they loved to play practical jokes on each other. The night before they flew out, Jeff sprayed shaving cream on everyone's hands while they were sleeping and took pictures. Then he tickled their faces until they recahed up and smeared shavin cream all over their own faces. Jeff said that about 500 missionaried arrive to the MTC each week and he estimated that there were around 4000 there at one time. Jeff said that the teachers there are really awesome. They are using a new system of teaching where they bring in actors from BYU and have them play the role of investigator and then the Elders practice taching them. Jeff struggled with the role-playing concept in the beginning but as he learned to teach with the spirit, he became better at it. He is still looking forward to having actual people to teach though.

Jeff's district also had some hardships while they were in the MTC. One of the boys brole his ankle while playing basketball at the MTC. They took him to the hospital and when they did the scan of his ankle, they found a cancer in one of his bones. Jeff said that it was a miracle because thy found it early enough that he will just have to have some treatment and then he will be able to continue his mission in about 6 weeks. If he hadn't broken his ankle they would not have found it this soon. Then this same Elder had his uncle die while he was in the MTC. Jeff was able to give him a blessing so that he could feel at peace. Also, another Elder in his district found out that his 19 year old brother overdosed and died while he was in the MTC. Jeff was able to give this kid a blessing too and it was a spiritual experience for both of them.

There were 13 Elders in his district all going to St. Louis on the same day, so they nicknamed their flight the Apollo 13. Jeff said that he has been able to help a lot of the Elders in his district deal with some of their emotional trials such as the deaths above, but also with things like some of them had left girls behind and a lot of them were stressed out with the schedule that they have in the MTC. Jeff said his motto is to make every companion his best friend and help them as much as possible. Jeff also hasa kid in his district named Elder Romney going to St.Louis with him. I think he said that his mom is Mitt Romney's sister.

Jeff also mentioned that they have a bunch of recorded talks from the church general authorities that are special topics just for the missionaries in the MTC. He said that Jeffery R. Holland is his favorite speaker now. Jeff also got to go to the Provo temple a few times while he was in the MTC. I have never been to that temple before, but Jeff said that it is really pretty. He said that there is a very large chandelier that rotates slightly when you look at it and that it is very pretty.

Jeff had heard that St. Louis is pretty bad for crime, Pick pockets are very common so he asked us to send him a belt that we saw in the missionary stores here that has a zipper hidden on the inside of the band. That way he can keep some money in their and not get robbed as easily. Also, he said that a portion on the East side of his mission has been closed from having missionaries due to the crime and danger in the area, but they are re-opening it as soon as his dictrict arrives from the MTC. I hope all the missionaried serving there are kept safe!

Neil had to get back to work, so he got off the line so I called up to may parent's house because the rest of the kids are staying up there with them for the month of June. Jeff got to talk to all the kids and his grandparents, so that was good for him to. The kids were really excited to hear from him!

We don't know what area he will be assigned to, but I will post again when we get a letter from him and know where he is at. He will get any letters or packages sent to the mission home, so you can write him at that address. It is posted on this blog under the "write to Jeff" tab at the top of the page.

Elder Christensen: Week 2 MTC

Wow another week down... this is my last p-day at the mtc crazy! I'm so glad to be leaving to ST.louis though:) Love getting every ones mail!! thanks for all the support and mom i loved the package you sent me we ate everything within like 30 minutes ha ha everyone was wondering why the potty train joke was on the tag ha ha that's my mama!! I'm doing a short email today i will be on a 1 to check it again so if you reply before then i will get back to you. I finally got my camera up and running so i will be sending some pictures back then my mom will be uploading those to facebook. So this week was crazy hard because i was a host for the new missionaries coming in and their families were all crying and when i see them cry then i want to cry but as everyone knows i don't cry ..... the on top of that we got our dry cleaner day taken away:( so Ive been washing my clothes in the sink and shower all morning ha ha Teaching our investigators in so much fun now that i know what I'm doing I'm no longer just teaching lessons I'm teaching people and its by the spirit I'm loving it!! this place is like a spiritual prison!! Ive never been this in tune with the spirit my whole life i hope i can keep these study habits with me forever!! hope to hear from you soon!!

Elder Christensen: My 1st Week at the MTC

Wow its so crazy to think a week has already gonna by time truly flies in the mtc. I'm loving the food and there is soooo much of it to eat i havent gained any weight yet though so thats good. The spirit here is so strong i love it i envy the elders that are here for 12 weeks they are so lucky but idk if i could handle this food for that long im definitely missing the home cooked meals!!so ill tell you a crazy store that's happened here in my district. Elder dahle that is from west Jordan Utah broke his ankle playing volley ball and went to the hospital today to get it checked out and they found some cancer in his leg! The lord must really be looking out for him because they found it early enough that there wont be any major damage caused. He is very lucky!! Anyways im loving the basketball time there is another elder in my district his name is Elder Sims and he and i have been teaming up and sweeping the courts ha ha! I wish we had more gym time because 50 minutes is nowhere near enough time!! But that's no the main reason you come to the mtc i guess.. ha ha I love my teachers they are so great Brother elton is crazy and he always has s much energy he truly keeps the room alive. I'm getting use to the mtc life and schedule its hard only having 7.5 hours of sleep everyday but its soooo worth it! There are lots of cool things in the mtc like there is this one tree and the sap from the tree smells like creme soda its sooo cool i want that tree at my house hint hint mom and dad..... This MTC also has the most diversity of all the mtc's in the world the kid sitting next to me on the other computer is from Thailand and no body can understand him so he has this microphone that translates everything for him lol. We have people for alll over the world its so cool meeting them and talking about their culture and how different everything is. My testimony has gotten so much stronger the mtc is like a gym for your spritual muscles ha ha I cant wait to go to ST. Louis and meet all the people their! We also pray about 20 times a day which i wasnt use to but its nice to be in the spiritual mode all day! I miss my music for sure! at the mtc you cant even listen to the hymns but i guess you wouldn't have time for that with how busy you are. my address is on Facebook is you want to write:) i miss you all so very much and hope to hear from you soon!!!

Love

Elder Christensen