"So, this is what it feels like to live life."‏

Whats up gang?

How goes all back in my beloved United States? Everything here in Perú is going well. Its been a pretty crazy week. First, transfers are here! Tomorrow all of the missionaries that have had changes will be here and will be off to their new sectors. Also, tomorrow we receive 4 new missionaries to the mission, and 4 leave. Typically, it can be kinda sad, sending your buddies off back home and saying goodbye and such, but this time… not so much. This time its more of a mission purifying process kind of thing. If you catch my drift. So yeah, we’ll be training all the new missionaries tomorrow in the mission home and that means lunch! Lunch is ALWAYS delicious in the mission home. :) We’re pretty stoked.

I had my first interview with president in maybe 6 months during a Zone Conference we had this last week. It went really well. In the interview he asked me how long I have been in the office for, and I told him 4 transfers. He looked at me wide-eyed and was like, “Wow! Its really been that long?” Haha, he was pretty surprised. He also said, “Well Elder, just so you know, Financial Secretaries are typically in the office for 5-6 transfers. So, you’ll be here for a little while longer!” So, that means that I just might be here till February, with 6 transfers. That’s a total of…  9 ½ months in the office. Wow. Well, I can always ask to leave in December, so we’ll see how that goes. President is really a good guy. I've gotten really close with him from being in the office. He has gotten so much better than he was in the past. Just like me. I wasn't the best kid in the past, but I changed. And that's the beauty of the Atonement.

We have a new ward mission leader, and he returned from the mission maybe a year ago, and is the bishops son. He is a good guy, and is really excited about helping us out. So we’ve been out with him visiting families and getting to know the ward better. There was a family we visited that said they haven’t had the elders in their house for 8 years! That makes me sad. So, were really trying to get to visit all of them, and get all of the recent converts back in the chapel. Were aiming for a 100% retention rate of recent converts.

Mom, I really haven’t been thinking about what I would like for Christmas! I cant really include that right now in this letter! I need to think about this in depth. So, maybe next week? But don’t worry about the pants, its not a rush. So, if you send off the package in November, you’ll be golden.

All of the office elders are: Elder Rogers, Elder Pastrana (Colombia), me, Elder Whittaker, Elder Cevallos (Ecuador), and Elder Ramos (Guatemala). Me, Roger, and Whittaker are all great buds. Every morning we get a good workout going, so watch out Bridge and Eth! I am impressed with your benching though, not bad at all. Were just gonna have to wrestle when I get back to see who's the strongest.

(I don’t know if you’ll want to include the following in the blog, it’s up to you. Elder Sowards says its fine.)

I cant believe about those two elders in Texas… and in Porters mission! Goodness, that’s gotta be hard. I can’t imagine that. But, we had something happen here with Elder Sowards from AZ that blew all of us away. To make a REALLY long story short, he lost his memory. They took him to the hospital, and he was really in shock. He didn’t know where he was, who he was, where he lived, and he couldn’t even talk! For a few hours he lost his ability to speak in English and Spanish. Well, President decided that he needed to be here in Cusco (he was in Abancay at the time, a zone 5-6 hours away) so that they could run tests on his brain, etc. So, I get a call from President right as we are going to a meeting, saying I need to send a large amount of money to Abancay so that Elder Sowards can be ambulanced to Cusco. (by this time, he was back to normal with all his memory, ability to talk, etc.) ASAP. So, we dropped everything, I ran to the office and sent the money to another missionary that is there in Abancay. He gets to Cusco that night about 1am, and they start doing tests, scans, you name it. They did a CAT scan, blood tests, etc, the whole thing, but everything turned out normal. He however, cannot remember the events that happened that day. There was a point when he talked to Elder Rogers on the phone, and he asked what his name is, and Sowards just sat there for a few seconds then started blurting out random numbers. “Four, six, one, nine, seven, three, two, twelve… “ Yeah. He was kinda crazy. But he is here in Cusco living with us, and is normal. The scary thing, is that the doctors are completely baffled. They don’t know what happened, and it could happen again. I think that if it happens again, he might be sent home to have him checked out there. So keep him in your prayers! We hope that everything turns out all right.

I got a letter from Eric this week! He sounds like he’s doing well! He’ll hit a year and a half here in a few days! So weird. And Devin is home!!? Goodness… That means that Joe Favero is back in just a couple weeks or less! Right? Wow. That blows my mind!!! Anyway, so everything else is going pretty good! How are the girls doing? (Harly and Roxy) I do miss them a ton! I’m still bummed about Boston running away. :( I remember picking him up with Ashley when he was just a puppy so long ago!! He was a good dog. I’ll miss him. Bridger and Ethan, just one more year until we can hit the slopes! It's gonna go by so fast.

I love you all, and I hope that this email finds you safe, happy, and just loving life. Life's great here in Cuscotopia, and I love it that I’m a missionary! I’m loving every moment. To quote Jimmy Needham, “So this is what it feels like to live life; so this is breathing air for the very first time. The Son of Man, he came here to give life, and in return He’s asking for mine.” He is asking for mine now, and I'm giving Him my all.

Till next week everyone. Stay safe, and keep smiling!

--
ELDER CHRISTENSEN
Secretario Financiero

Misión Perú Cuzco

(51) 984-503-861

(51) 084-242-521

RPM #623574

I attached some pictures, you’ll see the one of Elder Sowards in the hospital here in Cusco. Another of Floridas Natural Orange Juice, yes, I found that here! And, one of me and some flowers a little girl in my ward gave me. And, the last one is of me and that same little girl just from a few months back, so you can see her. She always gives me kisses on the cheek, haha. She’s ADORABLE.

Ps. Eric, if you read this, send me your weekly emails son! I mean, if you can. Love you bro, sending a letter this week.