Wow!! Week three of this transfer already and it has been just amazing!! We finally beat the standard of excellence here with over 20 lessons! It was a first for me to get that many and we found a few more invetigators! Also we are planning three baptism dates and can't wait for them to be baptized!! The one investigator that really made my week is named Ericson. His wife and kids left him and he is a really nice and hardworking guy. He loves his kids and was so interested in the blessings that are promised to us especially to families. He has never sought after God but he has been to other churches and the gospel just seems to click for him! I can't believe that we have been having such success here. I am glad the work is progressing even more so!!
The temple trip was great we went to Monticello and the ward there fed all the missionaries and we were so greatful for that! We got back late tonight so that's why my email is late. The elders from Thoreau are staying two nights with us because tomorrow we have Zone Conference. It helps them to save miles and stuff! Elder Harbin who is like one of my favorite companions and his companion Elder Sypher are super funny and I love them both. We played Risk before going to bed and its is just way to much fun!!
Okay enough with that. I found that my old MTC companion is in our zone so I got to talk to him today for about 8 hours as we drove to and from the temple!
Thanks for the door approches mom! We really need to start finding ways to be more inviting to people, but I think when they see two white guys on the rez they know who we are and it's really up to them if they want to let us in or not.
I'm glad that things are still great at home and that everyone still loves me lol!
I am greatful for all your emails and I love you!
Love,
Elder Christensen
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
It Snowed...A Little
Hi Everyone,
So this week was a really hard week for us. We only had like 10 lessons and had to drop a bunch of people because they all avoid us when we come around! We have knocked on almost every house here so that should tell you how many people live here and no one wants us to come by. We have placed a couple Book of Mormons here and there but other than that it hasn't been to good. We have been helping a member build an addition to his house whenever we run out of things to do, so we are excited to help him. And the family that feeds us is a a non-member couple who love missionaries because they are intellegent and fun to talk to, so that helps alot. We did find out on Thursday that next Monday we are having a mission temple trip and everyone is excited to go to the Monticello, Utah Temple so that will be something to look forward to.
I did get the amazing coats and they are perfect and really nice! It has snowed the last two days but not much. Not even an inch in Gallup or Tohatchi! But I am sure Flagstaff and Durango were hammered. I really want a lot of snow this year but I know it might not happen because we are so far south.
We are going to stay determined and continue to do all we can in finding more people so fear not, "I cannot be discouraged because it is the Lords work!!! (you should print that out and frame it!). So yep we are great and eating like rich men thanks to your grocery list. We actually spent less than what you estimated it to be! Thanks for everything mom and dad. You guys are the greatest!
Love Ya All!
Elder C.
So this week was a really hard week for us. We only had like 10 lessons and had to drop a bunch of people because they all avoid us when we come around! We have knocked on almost every house here so that should tell you how many people live here and no one wants us to come by. We have placed a couple Book of Mormons here and there but other than that it hasn't been to good. We have been helping a member build an addition to his house whenever we run out of things to do, so we are excited to help him. And the family that feeds us is a a non-member couple who love missionaries because they are intellegent and fun to talk to, so that helps alot. We did find out on Thursday that next Monday we are having a mission temple trip and everyone is excited to go to the Monticello, Utah Temple so that will be something to look forward to.
I did get the amazing coats and they are perfect and really nice! It has snowed the last two days but not much. Not even an inch in Gallup or Tohatchi! But I am sure Flagstaff and Durango were hammered. I really want a lot of snow this year but I know it might not happen because we are so far south.
We are going to stay determined and continue to do all we can in finding more people so fear not, "I cannot be discouraged because it is the Lords work!!! (you should print that out and frame it!). So yep we are great and eating like rich men thanks to your grocery list. We actually spent less than what you estimated it to be! Thanks for everything mom and dad. You guys are the greatest!
Love Ya All!
Elder C.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Halloween Letter
Hello again from Tohatchi!!!
We got transfer news this week and guess what, I am staying in Tohatchi for at least another 6 weeks!! I was pretty excited that I get to stay here because I love Tohatchi!! I will send pictures as soon as Halloween is over I promise!!
I'm sorry that I have requested so much, the golves are like the last big thing I need and then I will be happy!! By the way, the memory card you sent is to small for my camera so I sold it to another elder here who needed it and will use the money to buy one here!
Thank you for the grocery list we adapted it to try and fit a weeks worth of stuff so we will see how long we survive! That is the one thing that has been really hard about being on the rez. We don't get fed like other areas so we fend for ourselves most nights but we try to eat really well!
I really am doing great! My mission is going to fast and I am loving every minute of it! I can barely remember when I left!
I am glad everyone is doing great and I am so excited the kids are doing great! I do everything I can to keep myself from getting discouraged and I hope it is enough!
Anyway this e-mail is short because we have a super busy prep day today!
Well love ya all!
Love,
Elder Christensen
We got transfer news this week and guess what, I am staying in Tohatchi for at least another 6 weeks!! I was pretty excited that I get to stay here because I love Tohatchi!! I will send pictures as soon as Halloween is over I promise!!
I'm sorry that I have requested so much, the golves are like the last big thing I need and then I will be happy!! By the way, the memory card you sent is to small for my camera so I sold it to another elder here who needed it and will use the money to buy one here!
Thank you for the grocery list we adapted it to try and fit a weeks worth of stuff so we will see how long we survive! That is the one thing that has been really hard about being on the rez. We don't get fed like other areas so we fend for ourselves most nights but we try to eat really well!
I really am doing great! My mission is going to fast and I am loving every minute of it! I can barely remember when I left!
I am glad everyone is doing great and I am so excited the kids are doing great! I do everything I can to keep myself from getting discouraged and I hope it is enough!
Anyway this e-mail is short because we have a super busy prep day today!
Well love ya all!
Love,
Elder Christensen
Monday, October 24, 2011
Our First Baptism!
Thank you for the happy birthday things!! I can't believe I will be twenty and I will almost be twenty two when I get home! That is so messed up! Anyway I am gratetful for the video you sent. I didn't have any headphones or anything because I am in a library but I read your lips and it was a wonderful birthday suprise!
I sent a letter to you Mom about my packages and stuff and the only recent ones I have received is the one with the two coats but I am sure they will show up soon. If they don't get here before Wednesday then I won't see them untill next week because of transfers. I have prayed to know if I will be leaving Tohatchi and I keep having the impression that I will be leaving soon. We will just have to see what happens next!
This Sunday was a very special day for me because on Saturday we had our first baptism! His name is Chris Arnold and Elder Marple first taught him in Flagstaff. He then moved to Pinon for nine months and then we found him again in Tohatchi. Elder Marple got to baptise him because he worked with him the most but when Sunday came around Elder Marple confirmed him and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost and then the branch president wanted to give him the the priesthood that same day and he asked me to do it! After I ordained him a priest I gave him a copy of the line of authority paper. I was so glad that I had that. I was writing in my journal last night about the experience and I thought about what we had just done and I felt impressed that this would have a huge effect on something in his future! I really marveled at that because of what the spirit had just testified to me!
I also taught Sunday School today and the lesson was about unity and the Navajo people here really need that back in thier lives. If you would like the lesson, follow the teachings of Paul in Ephesians Chapters 1-5. There is a lot of good stuff and it is one of my favorite parts in the New Testament! I have also started the Book of Mormon again and I am in 1 Nephi 3 so I guess you guys have another chance to follow me and I am also reading the Old Testiment to.
I have been enjoying all the letters from Zack Hayward and Karl Garrett so thanks for those. I have also heard from Taylor and he is doing great. He moved to St. George this week and I know he is doing his best now that he has a fresh start! Mom, why would you stop Jordan from trick or treating? I didn't stop untill my last year in high school but I am also the strangest person and the whole zone here will attest to that! So ya sorry this email is so long but I had alot to say!
Well thats it for now!
Love ya all,
Elder Christensen!
I sent a letter to you Mom about my packages and stuff and the only recent ones I have received is the one with the two coats but I am sure they will show up soon. If they don't get here before Wednesday then I won't see them untill next week because of transfers. I have prayed to know if I will be leaving Tohatchi and I keep having the impression that I will be leaving soon. We will just have to see what happens next!
This Sunday was a very special day for me because on Saturday we had our first baptism! His name is Chris Arnold and Elder Marple first taught him in Flagstaff. He then moved to Pinon for nine months and then we found him again in Tohatchi. Elder Marple got to baptise him because he worked with him the most but when Sunday came around Elder Marple confirmed him and gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost and then the branch president wanted to give him the the priesthood that same day and he asked me to do it! After I ordained him a priest I gave him a copy of the line of authority paper. I was so glad that I had that. I was writing in my journal last night about the experience and I thought about what we had just done and I felt impressed that this would have a huge effect on something in his future! I really marveled at that because of what the spirit had just testified to me!
I also taught Sunday School today and the lesson was about unity and the Navajo people here really need that back in thier lives. If you would like the lesson, follow the teachings of Paul in Ephesians Chapters 1-5. There is a lot of good stuff and it is one of my favorite parts in the New Testament! I have also started the Book of Mormon again and I am in 1 Nephi 3 so I guess you guys have another chance to follow me and I am also reading the Old Testiment to.
I have been enjoying all the letters from Zack Hayward and Karl Garrett so thanks for those. I have also heard from Taylor and he is doing great. He moved to St. George this week and I know he is doing his best now that he has a fresh start! Mom, why would you stop Jordan from trick or treating? I didn't stop untill my last year in high school but I am also the strangest person and the whole zone here will attest to that! So ya sorry this email is so long but I had alot to say!
Well thats it for now!
Love ya all,
Elder Christensen!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Dinner with a family!
Well good morning!! We are doing great as a companionship! We have three baptism dates set in the next three weeks a wedding tomorrow and yes we are getting fed on Thursdays!!!! Yay! Finally a Navajo family that cares about missionaries and doesnt call us JDUBS (Jehovah Witness) or GAMALI'S (Navajo word meaning god whisperers)!!! Anyway it as been an exciting week for us.
Week six will be coming up and I can hardly believe that I only have two more weeks left in this transfer. I have a feeling that I will be leaving Tohatchi soon but if I don't I will be really excited to stay here for along time.
There are some really strange things happening around recently. There have been sightings of the Tohatchi Monster! Tohatchi is at the base of the Chooshagai Mountian Range which President Kimball said was one of the mountian ranges were the Gadianton Robbers lived and with the sightings of more Skinwalkers recently and the Tohatchi Monster it's no wonder!! We are trying to calm things down but people will believe what they want I guess.
So just some things that I found out about my mission. Did you know that it was made of three missions and President Jones was a member of the Seventy before he was our mission president? He was the one who felt impressed to make this area into a mission so he formed it and they made him the first president how cool!!! Here are some more insights about Lehi's decendants that I found out also. The Jaradites were the first here and traveled the farthest up north, hence why we have the northern native tribes. Then we know that the Nephites came and spread through all of South America and the people of Zarahemla settled Mexico. They became Nephites and spread all the way to the Eastern part of the United States were Moroni buried the plates and where the people were finally destroyed in a huge battle!! It was like 1,030,000 Nephites against even more Lamanites!! So yah just some cool stuff I recently learned which is probably old news to you!
We have also been having some experiences with drunks lately but that is nothing new. We just pray with them and then we walk away, simple!! Well we are looking forward to our baptisms and we are doing our best to stay obedient and I know you guys are being obedient to!!
Love you all!
Elder Christensen
Week six will be coming up and I can hardly believe that I only have two more weeks left in this transfer. I have a feeling that I will be leaving Tohatchi soon but if I don't I will be really excited to stay here for along time.
There are some really strange things happening around recently. There have been sightings of the Tohatchi Monster! Tohatchi is at the base of the Chooshagai Mountian Range which President Kimball said was one of the mountian ranges were the Gadianton Robbers lived and with the sightings of more Skinwalkers recently and the Tohatchi Monster it's no wonder!! We are trying to calm things down but people will believe what they want I guess.
So just some things that I found out about my mission. Did you know that it was made of three missions and President Jones was a member of the Seventy before he was our mission president? He was the one who felt impressed to make this area into a mission so he formed it and they made him the first president how cool!!! Here are some more insights about Lehi's decendants that I found out also. The Jaradites were the first here and traveled the farthest up north, hence why we have the northern native tribes. Then we know that the Nephites came and spread through all of South America and the people of Zarahemla settled Mexico. They became Nephites and spread all the way to the Eastern part of the United States were Moroni buried the plates and where the people were finally destroyed in a huge battle!! It was like 1,030,000 Nephites against even more Lamanites!! So yah just some cool stuff I recently learned which is probably old news to you!
We have also been having some experiences with drunks lately but that is nothing new. We just pray with them and then we walk away, simple!! Well we are looking forward to our baptisms and we are doing our best to stay obedient and I know you guys are being obedient to!!
Love you all!
Elder Christensen
Monday, October 10, 2011
Still Working Hard
YAY! only 21 more fast Sundays to go!!! Just kidding! I have actually been losing track of the days so when my companion told me he only has 12 left I counted mine down and I have a lot but it has been flying past!!
Thank you for the packages I have really needed it! The first week of October here has been super cold and the first three days of the week it snowed and rained a ton. It hasn't been very warm outside but I love it at night because I sleep ten times better!!
So Mom you would be so proud of me! I made pot stickers and and fried rice and we are having bar-b-que chicken tonight so we are going to survive!! We also did something cool for P-Day today! We biked up a mountian to go see some cliff dwellings and when I get the new memory card I will send you the pictuers along with list of what they are too! This country is so beautiful. I love it.
We did make it to General Conference and Priesthood which was great and no mom I haven't been to any primary programs. The branch is to small and there are like three little kids and some newborns. It is sad that no one has a desire for going to church but we are changing that little by little! You know I am finding out that we can do great things if we work hard and never get discouraged! There are times here already when I could get discouraged because Satan doesn't want me to work! But I try to never get down and people still ask me why I am always smiling and having fun and I tell them it's because if you make what you do enjoyable then it is no longer work, it is play time!! But don't get me wrong I still work hard and I do everything I can to help people so it's not all fun and games.
Thanks for your advice mom and dad I will keep on the look out for your letter. Some of the questions that some of our investigators are asking are kind of hard and I have to tell them that we will find some answers for them and come back to see them about it. Another question that one of our investigators has asked is why does Satan have the power to mimic Gods power of healing and such? Any advice and scripture references that you think I would be able to give would be great. Well that's all I have for today.
Love
Elder Christensen
Thank you for the packages I have really needed it! The first week of October here has been super cold and the first three days of the week it snowed and rained a ton. It hasn't been very warm outside but I love it at night because I sleep ten times better!!
So Mom you would be so proud of me! I made pot stickers and and fried rice and we are having bar-b-que chicken tonight so we are going to survive!! We also did something cool for P-Day today! We biked up a mountian to go see some cliff dwellings and when I get the new memory card I will send you the pictuers along with list of what they are too! This country is so beautiful. I love it.
We did make it to General Conference and Priesthood which was great and no mom I haven't been to any primary programs. The branch is to small and there are like three little kids and some newborns. It is sad that no one has a desire for going to church but we are changing that little by little! You know I am finding out that we can do great things if we work hard and never get discouraged! There are times here already when I could get discouraged because Satan doesn't want me to work! But I try to never get down and people still ask me why I am always smiling and having fun and I tell them it's because if you make what you do enjoyable then it is no longer work, it is play time!! But don't get me wrong I still work hard and I do everything I can to help people so it's not all fun and games.
Thanks for your advice mom and dad I will keep on the look out for your letter. Some of the questions that some of our investigators are asking are kind of hard and I have to tell them that we will find some answers for them and come back to see them about it. Another question that one of our investigators has asked is why does Satan have the power to mimic Gods power of healing and such? Any advice and scripture references that you think I would be able to give would be great. Well that's all I have for today.
Love
Elder Christensen
Monday, October 3, 2011
Keeping Busy
WOW! sounds like you guys have had a very busy week! It has also been busy for us! We drove to Gallup and back about 4 times this week because Monday we got food and Wednesday and Thursday we had District Leader Conference for Elder Marple and Zone Conference with President Jones! I'm so glad he is our president, he is super awesome. He talked about obedience and if we make it our quest instead of an annoyance we can teach with more power of the spirit!! So we took that to heart this week and it has been working! We are pretty busy in Tohatchi now and people who haven't been to church for a long time have been randomly showing up!! The first week I was here we had 15 people in sacrament but for the last 2 months since then it has been at 30 and 40!! So we are doing all we can to strengthen the branch! Our branch president loves us so much because of the work we do!!
For General Conference we drove in on Saturday and Sunday to watch it. I really liked alot of the talks too.
It gets really cold here and the wind blows really hard in the winter. I need a hat, scarf, gloves, a jacket and even long johns!! I will also need another pair or two of dress pants because rez elders don't need to wear suits. I know it's a lot of stuff but nessesary.
I am in Alma 56 now and its mostly about all the wars that are going on. I'm reading Helamans epistle to Moroni about the stripling warriors he calls his "little sons" but they are really not that little! He expresses his love for them and what their mothers taught them multiple times!! I can tell he is greatful for what those mothers taught their sons which makes me greatful for all the things you've taught me mom. I love you and miss you!!
Love, Elder Christensen
For General Conference we drove in on Saturday and Sunday to watch it. I really liked alot of the talks too.
It gets really cold here and the wind blows really hard in the winter. I need a hat, scarf, gloves, a jacket and even long johns!! I will also need another pair or two of dress pants because rez elders don't need to wear suits. I know it's a lot of stuff but nessesary.
I am in Alma 56 now and its mostly about all the wars that are going on. I'm reading Helamans epistle to Moroni about the stripling warriors he calls his "little sons" but they are really not that little! He expresses his love for them and what their mothers taught them multiple times!! I can tell he is greatful for what those mothers taught their sons which makes me greatful for all the things you've taught me mom. I love you and miss you!!
Love, Elder Christensen
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