This Is Peru!

This Is Peru!

December 7, 2011

Día De Gracias‏

Hey family,

Well, this week went by pretty quick! We have been busy with a lot of stuff this transfer week. Training, the actual transfer meeting, helping ZL’s, buying bus tickets, etc, etc. So, needless to say, its been a busy week. We have had some really awesome contacts though, and Elder Whittaker and I can see the Lords hand in our lives. He seriously guides us to these people, and not kidding, 4 out of 5 doors that we knocked, the people accepted us, and we set up appointments with them. We found this family of 4 that we are so excited to teach, and we have a lesson with them tomorrow at 6! The dad owns and operates a glass business, and we have visited them before (when I was with Elder Williams), and they are so nice and are excited for our visit. The mom has been having some trouble with her legs, I’m not sure exactly what happened, but she went to the doctor and had treatment, and that has been helping her. We also knocked the door of an OLD man, who let us into his patio to talk. He is probably 90 years old, and actually knew a lot about the church. His daughter is a member, and her husband is a bishop where they live in Lima. He said that he talked to him, as we talked to him, and he said, “Cuanto quisiera cambiar mi vida…” That basically means, “I would love to change my life.” But, the thing we found out with him, is that he doesn’t believe in God all that much and therefore doesn’t believe in the Bible either. So, we are going to visit him this week again, and see how we can help him. He seemed very interested, so who knows!

When changes rolled around, an elder that was in my old sector in Juliaca, sent me a gift from one of my converts there! She sent me a gift, and my son a gift as well. It was really cool actually! This elder was saying crazy stuff about me hahaha. He was like, “Elder what did you do there? Everyone asks about you, they miss you, and you really left a mark!” Crazy, right? As we were conversing, I came to find out that her sister was baptized! Whenever we taught her, we always invited her sister to listen in, but she ALWAYS denied us. But, about 4 months after I left, she too was baptized. Way neat.

There was an INSANE storm yesterday. It was intense. The worst I've seen on the mission. It started raining lightly, then started to rain way hard. Then it started hailing and raining. The hail gathered on every patch of grass that there was, and it looked like snow! Haha. Stairs literally turned to waterfalls. The thunder was so powerful that car alarms were going off. Hahahaha. I can't really describe how crazy it was. It was like walking in a shower. We got home sopping wet, to say the least. Shoes, pants, shirt, and all. I made a video, so I'll see if I can burn it to a disc sometime. 

This week, was also Hermana Calderón’s birthday! The president invited us elders in the office up to the mission home that morning for breakfast, and then to the party later that night. Hermana Calderón is awesome. She is so good to us, and we all just love her. So, President invited a bunch of people to the mission home, and we had a party! President went all out too, he hired a band to come and play! It was just 4 people, and they played very traditional Peruvian music. One guy played the guitar, another played the charango (Peruvian instrument), another played the zampoña & the kena (Peruvian flutes), and the last one played a big drum thing. I took some videos, so hopefully I can send them off on a CD soon! But man, the culture here is so different. Everyone danced, and afterwards we had a feast for dinner: beef, chicken, pork (which were prohibited to eat here), rice, stuffed peppers, cheesy potatoes, etc. All of which was delicious. We got home at like 11:30, but man it was fun. The next day I was SO tired though, haha.

Well, I’ll finish off with some things that I am grateful for… This week being Thanksgiving and all. I am so grateful for you, my family. I couldn’t imagine my life without my punk brothers, or my wonderful parents. I’m grateful for my mission. For this time irreplaceable time that I have to learn more about God, His Son Jesus Christ, and about myself. I will NEVER forget my mission and all of the wonderful experience I am gaining. I’m so grateful that I was raised in this Gospel! What a genuine blessing. I’m grateful for the scriptures, for the word of God that we can go to daily for comfort, guidance, and peace. I’m so grateful for the freedom that we enjoy and for those who make that freedom possible, God Bless America. I’m grateful for the friends that I have, and for their great examples. I’m grateful for the beautiful home that we live in. For the support that I receive as a missionary from my loved ones. I’m grateful for the testimony that I have, that continues to grow for this Gospel, everyday. And lastly, I am grateful for Jesus. I’m grateful for His perfect example, His unconditional love, His willingness to forgive. I’m grateful that he would willingly sacrifice Himself, for each and every one of us that we may live with our Heavenly Father again. He is our Savior. He is our Redeemer. I’m grateful to be his representative.

I hope that each of you who read this will take some time this week to notice the things that we have, that bless our lives each day. They are all around us; it’s just that sometimes we don’t open our eyes to notice them. So let’s each open our eyes and give thanks to God for everything that He blesses us with.

Les amo a todos. Cuidense, ¡hasta la proxima semana! Besitos…

--
ELDER CHRISTENSEN
Secretario Financiero

Misión Perú Cuzco
(51) 984-503-861
(51) 084-242-521
RPM #623574

PS, enjoy the pics, sorry the shirt picture took forever to send! 
PSS, I really want the ukulele!!!! 








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