Exchanges and The Call

Monday, March 9, 2015

Dear Everyone,

This past week has been a little bitter sweet. But all in all it's been good. To start last Monday was just normal P-day. I washed my clothes; we went to the market and bought our food; etc.

Tuesday we had exchanges with the other elders in our house. I was working with Elder Marsh in my area. We had a good time and got some good things done. That same day for district meeting we had a lesson on the talk "Beware of Pride" it was really good and humbling. haha. :) I would recommend giving it a read.

Wednesday was pretty normal. Nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary happened. We just worked and worked some more. But I do have to say that I'm learning how to cook… a little. hahaha. I'm learning how cook right now it's going pretty good. :P I also just asked Mommy's daughter to write down all the recipes she knows in a journal so I can make some cool stuff when I go home. :D.

Thursday was kinda just normal nothing really happened. But that night I did have a nasty head ache. :/

Friday morning I found out that I had missed a call from President Balledos so I was like "well that's not good" and gave him call. It was interesting because he let me know that I'm being transferred because I have a new assignment. Next transfer I will be a Zone Leader but I still don't know where. He wouldn't tell me where though... haha So bitter sweet feeling right now because it's time to move on but I really love this area. So far I would say that Naguilian is my favorite area so far on the mission. But it's all good.

Saturday was a pretty hard day as well we just couldn't seem to get anything going. Sunday on the other hand was a pretty good day. We worked with some members and got some good lessons. All in all it was a good way to close our week.

Well that's all for now. :) Mahal kita!!!

Elder Christensen

Excerpt from the Letter to President Balledos

For my personal study this past week I read from John. I read chapter 3 and 4. I really liked Christ's reference to living water. He invites us all to drink of his gospel and words. The promise I find is that if we live Christ’s teaching we will never be unsatisfied with our lives because we know who we are, where we come from and where we are going. We have direction and we need not thirst because we have all we need. That’s kinda what I thought about as I read that.

Exchanges and Work

Brian has a Goat

March 2, 2015

Dear Everyone,

This past week has been and interesting week. We started off with a family home evening at our less active’s house that was for his son's birthday. He turned 8 and we had a good time sharing it with him.

Tuesday was another good day for work. Nothing super crazy happened there. But sister Flory (our landlady) got sick and had to go to the hospital so we have been worried about here the past week. She's just been resting the past few days. She should be all right soon but we are a little worried about her.

Wednesday was a little bit different because we had exchanges with the zone leaders. I was working with Elder Harris in his area in Bauang. We had a really good time talking and teaching. We met an old American from Florida who was taught by the missionaries before. He had some interesting stories but he didn't want to listen again. All in all it was good time.

Thursday it was back to work in the area and we worked. We started teaching at new investigator this week that I really liked. It’s at the same less active’s house who had the birthday party. They brought his sister's brother to their house to stay for a while and he's super sweet. He has a birth defect so he is confined to a wheel chair and has not had an opportunity to get and education as much. He still super nice and understands what we teach. We just slow it down a little for him.

Brian Like the Cat's Eyes

Friday was pretty normal as well. Just taught some lessons and got some work done. Saturday was the same way. Sunday was a good day at church but it was probably the hardest day of the week for us as far was work goes. We just couldn't seem to get any good lessons in but it's all done and said so we move on and are happy. :)

That's if for now. Talk to you next week. :) Mahal kita.

Elder Christensen

Work, Work, Work

FHE Fun

February 23, 2015

Dear Everyone,

I think this week has been one of the most productive weeks I've had on my mission. We just had a ton of work done. So to start with a zone activity but I already told you about that. That same night we had an FHE. (That’s where the funny pic. of the two boy's came from) :P it was a good night.

Tuesday was when things got interesting. We started by teaching Brother Ernesto in the morning and then just continued to teach the whole day. Our landlady sister Flory worked with us for a lot of the day and it was awesome. She was a great fellowshipper for our investigators. All in all we just got a ton done.

More FHE Fun

Wednesday we just kept going and teaching but nothing super exciting happened. Thursday was big, too. That night we went and taught a lot of the people that live around us because our Sis. Flory invited them all over for a lesson. :D She is super involved right now in the work. It was a good lesson but we are trying to split them us so that we can focus on their individual needs rather than teach them as a big group. It was a fun lesson though.

Friday was pretty normal. We just kept going right along. And then on Saturday we had a full day mission at the branch. Most of the active members of the branch came to the church and went out to visit a lot of the less active members of the branch. It was a lot of good work done and they all had a good time. We also got some new investigators from it because the members were out talking to nonmembers, too haha. It was super cool. All in all we had a really good day that day.

Sunday was good but we were a little disappointed because we didn't get as many people to church as we wanted to but we will fix that for next week. :) Bbut all in all it was just a good week with a lot of work done.

Well that's all for now folks. :P Mahal Kita!!!

Elder Christensen

People Getting Baptized and Meet the Mormons

February 15, 2015

Hello World!!

So this week was pretty awesome. We started a little slow on Monday but it picked up the rest of the week. We had a lot to do.

Tuesday we had a zone training in Bawang instead of district meeting. It went really well and then we taught some great lesson. We started teaching a man named Jose Delizo. He is super smart but he's just like another one of our investigators that when we say something we need to know where to find it in the Bible to back ourselves up. But he's really fun to teach.

Wednesday was pretty normal. Just walking and then walking some more. :P oh I don't know if I told you this yet but my shoes now have holes in the bottom but I'm still going to use them until I physically can not. :P They are way good shoes, too. I'm surprised they have lasted this long because I've walked though floods with these shoes on. :D

Anyway enough about shoes. Thursday was another pretty normal day but we did give a priesthood blessing that night. We give a lot of those here, like two or three a week. But I like it because we help people. :)

Friday was awesome. We had a zone conference with President Balledos and he let us watch "Meet the Mormons." I loved it. It was very well done. I enjoyed the stories, and they said it was going to come to the Philippines this year sometime.

Baptism,Rovalyn, 8 Year Old Boy, Brian

 Saturday was a great day. It started with us getting the Church ready for a Baptism. I was a little surprised because I was asked to perform the baptism but I was happy to do so. We baptized one of the sisters’ investigators sister, Rovalyn, and then an 8 year old from a part member family. It was nice. But after the service we went out to work and taught a less active for the first time that night and it was one of the most powerful lessons I've had on my mission. There wasn't anything super special to say about it but the spirit was so strong. The guy was having a hard time and we just shared about faith and how we can't lose our faith when times get hard. It was sweet and then he came to church the next day. :)

Boy from Part-Member Family

Sunday was another good day but nothing super special happened. Oh wait we did give an IBD for brother Mark. He's super cool. I hope that goes well. But that's about it.

mahal kita!!

Elder Christensen

Another Week Down

February 9, 2015

Dear Everyone,

This past week has gone by pretty fast. Last Monday was a little bit of a hard start. Nothing really happened. But Tuesday was a good day. We were teaching an investigator at 7:00 AM because he doesn't have any other time to meet with us so that's how we started our day. It was a good lesson and then we had district meeting. After that we went to work and got a lot done. It was a little sad because we taught one of our new investigators whose daughter is a member but not at home. It was sad because she asked us not to come back. :( It's always sad when we have that happen.

Wednesday was a good day. But it was a pretty normal day. Nothing special. Thursday we taught Ernesto again in the morning but nothing super crazy happened in the day. However I am making a new effort to learn how to cook. :P because when we with our land lord I asked if they would teach me how to cook haha. So that started last Thursday and so far it's going all right but we will see if I actually learn anything. haha

Friday was a hard day because we had to do a choir practice for our branch because we had a district conference this past weekend. So we didn't have a lot of time to work.

The district conference started on Saturday and it was way good. Lots of good speakers and new things learned. But that's about it for this past week. Nothing super crazy or out of the ordinary but it was still good. :)

Mahal Kita!

Elder Christensen

Transfers!!!! ... Joke Lang :P

Monday, February 2, 2015

Dear Everyone,

This past week has been ok. We started the week with Elder Talisa and Elder Ledesma as my companions. It was ok but we had a bit of a hard start to the week because we were juggling our two areas. Fun stuff but it was fun that night when we had an FHE with our EQ President. Super fun stuff. :)

Tuesday was the hard day for us. It started because we had to go to Bauang for our district meeting. We then helped the new sister who transferred take her stuff to their apartment. We just were pretty late getting to work because of all the things that happened. Oh yeah that's how transfers work now. Sisters get transferred on Tuesday; Elders get transferred on Wednesday; and the new missionaries get put in their areas on Thursday. No one meets up in San Fernando any more they just go straight to their area. It was interesting.

Anyway Wednesday was transfers for Elders but guess what. I didn't transfer. :P That means this is now my longest area in my mission, which is just fine with me because I love it here. :) But we did get a new missionary in the apartment. His name is Elder Marsh. He’s pretty cool. He’s from New Zealand just like Elder Talisa so they get a long great. Life is good.

Thursday was down to business and we got to work. It was a good day. We had Arjay work with us and so we got a lot done. But nothing super crazy happened.

Friday was another good day. We actually went to an area that I haven't been to yet man. Is it far. haha We walked for a long way then a guy we knew from town, his name is Brian, (I thought it was funny that we had the same name but he doesn't even know it. :P) just picked us up and told us to visit his sister who turned out to be a member. haha. We couldn't teach her but we invited her to church and we should see her again. It was fun though and we got a lot done again. :)

Saturday on the other hand was a hard day. We couldn't teach hardly anyone because they were either busy or women... hard day but we did alright.

Sunday was a good day though. Church is always good and after that we had a lunch appointment with mommy... That's what we call our landlady because she's super nice and treats us a lot like her kids. haha But we ate at the cemetery with her family because it was her late husband’s birthday. It was a little strange but it was nice and the food was good. :) The rest of the day was also pretty good. We started teaching a referral but realized he was a little drunk after we started so we just gave him a pamphlet and said we would come back on a different day. haha But his wife seemed interested.

Well that's all for now. :) mahal kita!!!

Elder Christensen

Trisom Week

Christmas PJs

Monday, January 26, 2015

Well to start this past week has been pretty crazy. But I will explain myself. To start with on Monday we had a hard day. It was good though because we had a Family Home Evening with our land lady. She is the one of my favorite members here. She is super nice all the time. :) It was good.

Tuesday was interesting because Elder Ledesma and I had to go to San Fernando for a new missionary training. It was fun and good to see everyone. I also got my package with PJ's from GnG Christensen. Thank you so much!!!! Also big thank you to the Clark family I got their package as well. :) The hard part about the day is we had to get up early that morning and teach a lesson at 7am because our investigator didn't have another time available. haha It was good though. :)

Wednesday was a good day of work. We got a lot done but it was also a sad day because Elder Marcantano got a call that night letting him know that he is going home. :( He has had 4 surgeries for his ingrown toe nail and the mission department made the call for a medical release. So Thursday morning we put him on a bus going to Manila and now Elder Talisa and my companion are in a trisom. Super sad to see him go.

Brian, Elder Talisa, Elder Ledesma

Thursday we went to work with our new companion. :) We have had a lot of fun in the trisom. We just work and laugh and then work some more. haha All in all it was a good day.

Friday we worked in both areas and got a lot done for it. We found a new investigator in Elder Talisa's area and then taught his recent convert. It was a fun day and we did get good things done.

Saturday was a hard day for us. We kept going to all our appointments and couldn't teach because we didn't have anyone with us and we can't teach girls unless there is a male with us as well. Super hard when you can't teach. But it was still good to visit them and see how they are doing.

Sunday was awesome because even though we couldn't really teach this whole week our investigators came to church. It amazes me every time I watch the Lord move his work even when we struggle though a week. The rest of our day was hard but everyone here is still smiling because even though it's hard the Lord is in it.

Well that's all for this week. I love you all. Mahl Kita!!!

Elder Christensen

Baptism in Naguilian

Excerpt from Letter to Mission President

For my studies this past week I have been reading a lot from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. It’s interesting to compare the visit Christ had to the Americas and his teachings in the New Testament. They are super interesting. Something specific that I liked while I was reading in Mark was in chapter 7 verse 15. Christ states that what we eat or drink does not defile us but rather what we say and do. He further explained that evil actions come from within and so we should be more concerned with what comes out of our mouths rather than what goes in.

Brian

Baptism

Don't Drink the Juice!!!

January 19, 2015

Dear everyone,

This past week has been a great week. We got so much work done. So to start on Tuesday we taught some good lessons but nothing super interesting happened till that night when we met this guy. He is super religious but I'm still a little confused as to what his religion is. He is super interested in our message because it's the first time he's heard of God the Father having a body like ours. He started listing verses in the Bible like crazy. haha it was crazy but I'm super excited to teach him. We should teach him tomorrow. His name is Ernesto.

Wednesday was good both Elder Ledesma and I were a little sick but we still got a ton of work done. Nothing super special happened though.

Thursday was when we learned about the juice. haha I had super bad LBM (large bowl movement) in other words I was in the bathroom all night. :P Our less active gave us some juice on Tuesday and we knew it wasn't the best Idea to drink it... But they were looking at us and it was bad so we drank it... lesson learned. Don't drink the juice unless you know where it came from. :P haha But it's was all good it only lasted a few days. I'm all good now.

Friday was another good day even though we were still a little sick. But I think that's part of it. The Lord blesses us when we are at our weakest and that's how we grow. That was true for this week.

Saturday was our long day we only taught a few lessons but we ended up walking our whole area. It was long. But we were happy because we had and FHE that night which means good food. :)

Sunday was great. We had a lot of investigators come to church and we are seeing great improvements everywhere. All and all it was just a good week.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!

Elder Christensen


Excerpt from Letter to President Balledos

For my studies this past week I learned about patience. Sometimes we forget that we need to work on the Lord’s timetable and that's not always easy. We don't always get the perfect golden investigator right when we pray for them. Sometimes we just have to work through our trials and that's part of being alive. I read Mosiah 24:9-16 and I was reminded that the Lord will often make our burdens feel light rather than take them away so that we can learn the he does visit us in our afflictions. He does help us in time of need. But we also learn patience. I think that being patient just means being positive in the face of adversity.

Pictures Brian Sent from Christmas:

* Toys that he bought to deliver while playing a "white, skinny, tall Santa."
* Elder Ledesma, his new companion
* Hi landlady at Christmas dinner

This is Mommy (our land lady) she had us over for dinner on Christmas day. When I say over for dinner I mean the next room over because we live in the same house. It's just sectioned off. haha it was pretty awesome. The first time I had stake on my mission. :P

Trisom and a Baptism

Sunday, January 12, 2015

Dear Everyone,

So to start this past week has been interesting. We started off last Monday a little rough but we came back.

Tuesday was pretty good. We started teaching Brother Delizo again and he is actually doing pretty well, accepting what we are teaching him. I really liked that. Funny thing that happened was a friend of ours on a trike, he stopped while we were walking home and told us to get on. We did and it was good thing to because a dog darted in front of us and we hit it. Nothing happened to the trike but the guy said if we had not been there he might have lost control. He said our weight help keep him alive. We all laughed about it but count your many blessing because we were there. :)

Wednesday Elder Marcantano went to Manila to have surgery on his toe. He has a super bad ingrown toe nail. So we were with Elder Talisa until Friday. It was cool working with him. We had a bit of a hard time in our area with him but that's life. We can't make everything work the way we want it to.

Thursday was pretty good. At the end of the night we went to Elder Talisa's area and taught his IBD who was being baptized on Saturday. He was super excited and it went well that night.

Friday we didn't get a lot done because we had to wait at the apartment for Elder Marcantano to get home from Manila. So yeah nothing special happened that night.

Saturday on the other hand was great in the Morning. Brother Espanya got baptized and our investigator came to see it. We were stoked. The rest of the day we got punted a lot but not bad.

Sunday was the best day of the week. We got to take the sacrament but there was also an area broadcast that night at 6. The crazy thing is when we started work we really got to work. haha. We went from one appointment to another and just taught. It always amazes me how much of a difference it makes when we have a member working with us and when we don't. It's like the Lord just opens all the doors when the members work with us and then when they don't we struggle. The broadcast was good and I learned some good stuff but that's about it.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!!!

Elder Christensen

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Dear everyone,

First of all. HAPPY NEW YEAR. Guess what it's 2015. You know what that means. It means I will be seeing all of you this year. :D. But it also means I will be leaving the Philippines. :/ It's all good though that's still a ways away.

As for my week it's been good. I think I have had the most new investigators this week than any other week in my whole mission. haha I just hope we can get them to progress. So to start last Monday was lame. But it's ok the rest of the week was good.

Tuesday we taught Sister Maricelle. She has an IBD now and is doing very well. But nothing crazy happened there.

Wednesday was when the crazy things started to happen. We went to Sili to contact the referrals from last Sunday and we ended up teaching 15 people, 13 of whom were new investigators. haha It was super crazy and strange teaching so many people at the same time. The rest of the day was still pretty good but nothing crazy happened other than the fact that we went home early because it was New Years Eve. New Years for missionaries is boring. That’s all I have to say we just slept.

Thursday there was a funny experience. We were walking down a street to visit one of our investigators and this random guy yells to us from his fenced in yard. "Do you want to try our food?" haha we were like  "... um... ano (what)?" We were a little worried that the food would be bad or something. It was just weird because he called us not the other way around. But it was good. We ended up teaching him a lesson with the people in his house. We will see how he does.

Friday was a pretty good day. We didn't teach very many lessons but we had a few good ones. It was a good day though.

Saturday was crazy packed. We went back to the 13 we taught on Wednesday and taught again. It was ok but not as good as on Wednesday. It’s all good though. But right after that we had to run to town because I had to interview the other elders’ investigator of baptism. It was a good interview and he will get baptized this coming Saturday.

Sunday was a pretty good day. We got a lot of work done but nothing special or out of the ordinary happened. We just taught lessons.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!!

Elder Christensen


Questions from a Separate Email

* What was New Year's Eve like in your area?

To be honest it was really quiet for the Philippines because the local government banned all fireworks. haha So it was really quiet. I mean they still had horns and stuff but the Philippines should be a lot louder. It was pretty boring all in all.

* What are the traditional celebrations for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day?

Well traditionally they eat a lot of food. Most get drunk and the blow everything up. :P haha They talk about the way it was about two years ago and it's sounds pretty crazy. :P

* Did you ever get Aunt Jean's package?

I never did. Sorry to say. We'll see what happens though.

* What spiritual experience you had this past week?

Well the other night we taught a new investigator. His name is Nestor. His wife just died of a heart problem last October 31. We have been teaching at his house for a long time and the previous Elders almost baptized his daughter but he didn't like that idea. We started teaching him but skipped the Restoration and went straight to the Plan of Salvation. I don't know when we taught him he seemed about to cry the whole time. The spirit was there and to be honest I think his wife was there to. So was Mama Sherri. But that was just the feeling. I don't know it was just a different kind of lesson.

* When did you feel the Savior's love this week?

Well I felt it all week. :P but the experience above is a good example.

Christmas!!!

Monday, December 29, 2014

Dear Everyone,

This past week started hard but ended good. :) which is great because it's Christmas. :) To start Monday was lame. We did nothing. We didn't even teach a lesson because no one was at home. Lame. :P

Tuesday was lame as well. We didn't teach a single lesson. But there was a ward Christmas party. It was ok. But the good thing is one of our investigators came. :) That was good.

Wednesday was better. We didn't teach a lot but we did teach Edrik and his dad. We talked about eternal marriage and how their family can be together forever but they need to do their part and make the changes in their life so they can go to the temple as a family. :) We also had a fun FHE that night with the Juan family. They make the best food. :) It was super awesome. :)

Toys for Playing Santa

Christmas day was actually really cool. I felt like a tall, white skinny Santa Claus. haha I had a ton of chocolate and presents that I gave to the people I'm teaching. It was a ton of fun to see their faces. haha :D Happy day. We also had some great lessons about the Savior and his birth for Christmas. It was pretty good.

Friday was ok. We taught some lessons but nothing super special. Saturday was a good day. We had 3 baptisms in our branch. The sisters had 2 and one of the members in our branch had an 8 year old daughter bet baptized. It was super fun to watch them. Also we taught a really great lesson to Devera that night. They haven't been doing a lot to progress. But we taught about Joseph Smith again and they committed to learn for themselves if our message was true or not. It was really good.

Sunday was really good to. It was funny because when we went to church we got Karen-Joy a ride to church. But then one of the members from our area brought 5 of her friends to church with her.. haha It was like boom referrals. haha We are going to teach them on Wednesday. Hope that goes well.

Well that's all for now folks. :P mahal kita!!

Elder Christensen



Questions from a Separate Email

* What unique thing did you do to celebrate Christmas?

Well for everyone we taught that day we shared about Christ. The spirit was very strong for those lessons. We also stuffed our faces with food at some members’ houses but I don't know how spiritual that was. :P

More Toys for Playing Santa

But what I did was use the money GnG Bevan and GnG Christensen gave me and bought a ton of presents for the people we teach in my area. I bought about 500 pesos worth of chocolate and handed that out with a ton of presents for my investigators and less actives. It was a ton of fun. haha It was super funny as I walked around all Christmas handing out chocolate and toys. :P

I also gave Elder Ledesma a Chess set. :) I got myself a rubrics cube and a top. :P


* What are the main traditions for the Filipinos on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?

Pretty much the same as ours. They go visit their families and have a ton of food. Then Christmas morning they open presents. The only big difference is they really don't have much so they only give little toys and presents. But they are always still happy because it's more about families.


* What did you think about your Christmas packages?

They were way fun. Everyone in my house made fun of me a little bit because their families only send food and supplies. But I got a ton of toys. :P haha. It was fun though.

Elder Ledesma, Christmas Dinner

Christmas Dinner with Landlady

This is Mommy (our land lady) she had us over for dinner on Christmas day. When I say over for dinner I mean the next room over because we live in the same house. It's just sectioned off. haha it was pretty awesome. The first time I had stake on my mission. :P

Transfers

Monday, December 22, 2014

Dear Everyone,

Elder Cabase and Brian with Pepito Family

This past week has been crazy. haha To start Monday was pretty normal, except our branch president had us come over for dinner and it turned out to be a huge party for him. His mom who got back from America. It was kinda crazy haha but that was it.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We taught a lot of lessons but it was kinda sad too. Elder Cabase found out that he was transferring the next day that night. He was super sad. But that's about all that happened.

Wednesday was super strange because they changed transfers. Elder Cabase went by himself to Baguio and got picked up there by the missionaries there. We had a huge mess trying to figure out where everyone was going haha. It all worked out in the end but I didn't have a companion that day because I found out I was training. So I had to go to San Fernando on Thursday.

Elder Ledesma

Thursday I went and picked up Elder Ledesma. He is Filipino and super cool. He is from Laguna. It’s close to Manila.. ish. He is pure Tagalog but he is really good at English. He’s fun to talk to and I like working with him. It should be a good 12 weeks. :P

After we got to the apartment I didn't let him unpack. haha We went out to work instead. We taught a good lesson to Brother Devera but he is still having trouble. He believes what we are teaching but his close friends and family don't want us to teach him and are very opposed to him being baptized. We are working with him on that.

Friday was a hard day. We were not able to teach a lot of lessons but we still managed to smile even though we just did a lot of walking.

Saturday we went to the chapel in the morning because I had to interview a baptismal candidate for the sisters in my district. It was super cool. She was super prepared for her baptism. We should have one this coming Saturday for her. The rest of the day was pretty much a repeat of Friday. :/ but that's ok because Sunday was great.

We taught a lot of lessons with one of the members from the ward who came home from Baguio for Christmas because he is going to School there. We taught a lot of lessons and just had a great day. One that I liked a lot was when we taught about the atonement of Christ. The spirit was super sweet and I loved feeling it. It was just a good day. We also gave a blessing to one of the members in the sisters’ area because they were sick. We do that a lot but every time I feel the spirit so strongly. I love it.

Well that's all for now. mahal kita!!!!

Brian