Hey There

¡Buenas dias familia!

¿Whats goin on!? Im doing so well. This week has been really awesome
so far! Yesterday we went to Interpol, which was cool. It was nice to
get out of the CCM for a few hours. We got fingerprinted and all that
good stuff. Jaja. So yeah! But we are DEFINITELY sheltered here in the
CCM. For sure. I got all of your emails, and I saw Eric's pictures..
Make sure to send him the pics as well.. I can email whoever I want.
What is his email? But Dear Elders take about a week or less to get
here. Its the same pretty much as regular mail. They tell us to tell
our parents and people not to send packages because it is a lot of
money to get them out of the mail. Or something. But yeah we went to
the Temple this morning! It was sooo  fantastic. Everyone takes a bus
to get there. You should have seen this bus. Its really small, with 2
seats on the left side and only 1 on the right side. All the seats
were taken up so all of like 14 elders had to just stand and hold on
for dear life. It was this old rickety thing that lurched back and
forth and such, jaja. It was so fun though.

I literally am loving the experience. Even though its super poor and
stuff, it just makes me that much more grateful for everything that I
have at home. You guys.. we are SO incredibly blessed. I can´t even
express to you how good we have it. I have already had my eyes opened
so much here. And I haven´t even seen the worst of it. Its so hectic
and crazy in the city. Its like the Tokyo of South America. The taxis
are nuts and everyone honks and there is trash in the streets, and
wild dogs run around and such. But there are places that are really
nice as well. Like, really nice. It has a lot of the best and the
worst here in Lima. From what I´ve seen at least. BUT I absolutely
love it. Its the best and I wouldn't trade this experience for
anything.

We are allowed to shop and stuff after the Temple for an hour and a
half or more. Just depends on your situation. So we went to a store
called Tottus, its basically a Wal-Mart. Its really really nice. They
sell electronics, home furnishings, and there's a restaurant in the
front. It is really clean, and is up to date with technology and such.
I was surprised! So I bought a six pack of Gatorade, they use glass
bottles here more than plastic for recycling i think. And Inca Cola, a
coke, and some juice. Then I bought some really good local Dulce
(candy). Along with some chips, and gummies! Jaja. So we have enough
to last a week or longer. Its is so nice to be able to have today to
just chill and relax.

Tell Grama and Graps thank you so much! That is really nice of them. :)

I hope that moms elbow is doing okay! How are you holding up mom? I
hope your hormones aren´t getting the best of you!

Bridge! That's so legit that Line is replacing your skis. You NEED to
send me pictures when the season starts and you learn to cork :) I
hope that school is going great! I bet you´re loving the jeep. Mom
told me that you have friends over and you just sit in it and crank
the subs, that's fun! I´m glad you put my subs to good use. I wish i
could hear them! :(

Ethan! Dude! Way to do work with the football! Keep it up stud! I love
hearing about your games. How are things? Friends, school, the ladies?
Jaja jk..... but seriously. How are they. Haha.

Tan man! How are you doing buddy! I hope that you are liking piano!
Keep it up, you will love it when you´re older. Are you liking school?
I know its hard, but keep doing your best okay? I sure love you man!

Dad, my watch is working, but the light isn´t. I don´t know what the
deal is. I also don't know how to set the alarm... So yeah. But all is
well. I´ll figure it out. Don't worry about sending another. I think
that for my birthday and Christmas or whenever it would be best if you
just put money in my account and I can buy stuff here. I mean,
packages are good too, (send them please, jaja) but, the things you
can buy here are only here! Ya know?

I really hope that Eric is doing alright. I miss that kid! Ask around
about my other buddies, and try to get their emails for me. That would
be awesome.

I NEED AMERICAN STAMPS. Please send me some in a letter. Make sure
they are inside the folded paper though. I also am going to buy a
converter here, just so you know, I´ll probably use the money on my
card for that.

Anyway! I miss and love you all so much. Keep writing me on here for
the time I am in the CCM. Use dear elder as well. I haven´t received
any mail so far, but its okay! No big deal. I'm focused on the work so
I hardly notice. I forgot about mail actually for like 4 days, and
remembered, hey, I haven´t had a letter! Kinda funny and sad at the
same time, lol. So I better run! I have like 6 minutes left. I miss
you mom and dad! I am so happy I was able to talk to you on the phone
3 different times!! I will try to write Eric, but I'm not sure how the
mail works. So get me his email for sure.

MUCH LOVE!!!

Your son and big best bro,

Elder Jordan Van Christensen

Pictures in Peru!

Mission boundaries!

PERU BABY!

Como esta mi familia?!

I'm here in Peru and all is well! You should see it here. It is such an
eye opener. We have it so good in America. We are so incredibly
blessed. Just being here in the CCM makes you really grateful. There
are some really ghetto places, but there are also some really wealthy
places also... I haven't seen any of the rich areas yet. We got here at
like 1am last night (the CCM) which is MTC in español. Yeah, these
keyboards have a ñ button. Anyway... it was a long long trip but we
made it and its so awesome here! Actually being here in Peru is pretty
surreal. When our flight finally reached South America, it felt weird!
I am 4,000 miles away right now! The time is only 1 hour ahead. So no
jet lag. I was so happy to talk to all of you on the phone! Even
though the boys were basically asleep. I doubt they even remember
talking to me! But yeah I was up for almost a full 24 hours yesterday,
and after we settled into our rooms a little bit, we finally got to
sleep at around 1:30. My new companion is Elder Rodriguez and he is
from Guatemala. He is 25! Pretty crazy, but they're all really nice.
Today we woke up at 5:45. Our comps were up and ready to go. They got
here yesterday at around 10pm. So I couldn't get back to sleep, and
figured Id just wake up and take a shower. We went to breakfast. This
is what we had. Some scrambled eggs w/sliced hot dogs. Two rolls. A
WEIRD warm fruit drink, and some cereal with a runny yogurt over the
top of it. Yummm. Its also a big rule here to finish everything on
your plate. If not, you get in trouble. Anyway, after that we had
interviews with the CCM Presidente, President Whetten. He knows John
Ford, and he is from Layton. So tell John that he says hello! Haha.
Apparently John is his dentist. So yeah! Pretty weird how many
connections i´ve been making since being on my mission. I love it. I
already know that i´ve made friendships that will last much longer
than these two years! Today has been a pretty relaxed day. We hot our
heads buzzed. That is a requirement for every missionary. Straight
buzzed head. #2 haha. So we all look like were in the army or
something. After lunch we changed and played soccer!! They have the
sweetest soccer field here. Its a turf field!! And it has nets like
30+ feet high to catch the ball when it goes up. We played for like an
hour an a half and worked up a much needed sweat!! So much fun. The
native elders are so ridiculously good. I can´t wait to get home and
play for college. I really want to. My ankle is feeling really good as
well. Thank heavens. The doctor at the MTC gave me a brace before I
left which was nice. So i´m doing really so good here in Peru. :) I
love it so much! We get to go to the temple next Wednesday and shop
for an hour and a half. All of the elders that have been here for a
while all have the sweet hats that you wanted mom! They have sweet
ties and bags as well. So, if I heard correctly, I will get to buy
some fun Peruvian swag! Haha. I have figured out how to attach
pictures! Mannny more to come, I hope you enjoy them! I will be
sending another email with more pictures in just a second!! So enjoy!
I love you all and you are all in my prayers. :) Have an awesome week
and I will talk to you again very soon!

MUCH LOVEEE,

Elder Jordan Van Christensen

2nd Week!!!

Hola familia!!

 

How is everyone doing? I sure hope everyone is well! Wow this week has been crazy and its flown by so very quickly. To start off, Sunday went quite well. However our Devotional was cancelled due to construction in the gym. No good! But it was still a good time. Some elders in our district practiced to sing "Come Thou Fount" in Sacrament meeting, but we weren't able to because another elder wanted to sing and he left today. So, he took precedence apparently. BUT, on our Temple walk we were able to sing up on the Temple grounds which was really cool. No need for a piano because we did it accapella, or however you spell it! So that was really neat. We also have learned the Tongan hymn, Folofola mai au si su'. Or something like that! I have a video of us singing it so maybe I'll figure out how to send that to you eventually. Later on Sunday, we watched the Joseph Smith movie. I. Love. That. Movie. I've watched it before, but just being here at the MTC really touched me, and I felt the Spirit so much stronger than before watching it. It was fantastic.

 

Yesterday we had a Devotional and the speaker was Elder Brian Richards and his wife. They gave us a great message about missionary work! He had us watch a video by Jeffrey R. Holland of the 12 Apostles, titled "Why is it so hard?" Why does missionary work have to be so hard?" he said. It got me thinking. It is the truth, it offers eternal families, and it brings the most pure form of happiness that we as humans can possibly experience... Right? Right... So, then why is it hard? Well, he offers a perfect answer. He says, "I am convinced that missionary work is hard because salvation is not a cheap experience. How can we expect it to be easy, when for Him, it never was? The atonement will carry you when you are discouraged, rejected, spit on, or cast out. Because you are on the journey that never was meant to be easy. But it always will be worth it." Personally, I could not have asked for a better answer. Why would I be out here if I didn't know for myself, without a doubt in my mind, that this work is the truth? The answer is, I wouldn't. But thankfully I have a testimony of this gospel and I am so grateful for that!!! The days can be really long and hard here, but I keep chugging along as I cling to my testimony that is growing stronger every day. Now, just because he talks about missionary work, the same thing can be said about life. Life was never meant to be easy. It was meant to try us and test us. How can we expect to grow without trials? I am grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to put me through trials. I learn so much, and I'm so grateful. Sunday was SUCH a good day. Very needed!!

 

Mom and Dad, thank you for your letters! I always look forward to them. Even though if you, Dad, were falling asleep writing mine at 1 am!! haha. Thank you for the good advice, and I will be reading the booklet you gave me on my flight to Peru. Apparently other books aren't allowed in the MTC. So yeah! No worries! OH YEAH. I got my flight plans. I leave on September 22nd!! I have to be ready to go at 3am. Our flight leaves SLC at around 6. So everyone be awake and ready for me to call you and chat!!! I have two layovers. One in Dallas, and one in Miami. So I will see what I can do to call you then! If you can, send me some extra cash in the next package, I will need it... Haha. Muchas gracias por su paciencia! Mom! Ah! I loved your letter. Thank you so much! I love you so much, and I miss you tons as well! I couldn't have asked for a better mother. Thank you for being so fantastic. Theres no need to be sad! I'm doing the Lords work happily and lovingly! I'm exactly where I need to be. I am trying to be more Christ-like and I can safely say that I already basically know how because of the example you and dad have both set for me. I am so lucky to have such strong parents.

 

Anyway my time is about up! Thank you for everything. Keep me in your prayers. I don't ahve Pattis address, so please tell her thank you for me and that I am so happy that she has kept me in mind! She is amazing. Tell her that I really love her!! Congrats on the Jeep, Bridge. :) Don't be too crazy. Keep telling everyone to write me! I miss you all so much! Ethan, its okay about the game, keep your head high stud. Tanner! Thank you for you letter buddy!!! I love you and you are all in my prayers. I'll be sending you another hand written letter with other details.

 

MUCH LOVE,

Elder Jordan Van Christensen

FIRST WEEK!!!

Hola mi familia!!!!

 

Man there is so much to share I don't know where to begin!! Well, first off, you gotta know that I am absolutely loving it here at the MTC! Its such a spiritual place and I can feel the gift of tongues as I do my best and be meticulously obedient. My companion Elder ******** was sent home yesterday due to worthiness issues. :/ NO bueno. I am really sad for him, but I am also grateful that he is getting things fixed! Hopefully in a year or so he will decide to try it again. His mission call stays the same so I might even be able to be his trainer! BUT, this is a perfect example of procrastinating your repentance. Boys, I'm talking to you! Don't wait until you're on your mission. Very bad idea. Anyway! We had a great devotional yesterday from Elder Lowell Powell of the Seventy about choices. A quote that he shared was "Choices reveal your true nature." How true that is! It was such a great devotional. My new companion(s) are Elder Thurman, and Elder Leonard. They are great! It's definitely a little awkward being in a threesome, but oh well! I'll just do my best. Our district is soo great! We have two Elders from American Samoa, and they are way good at singing! They taught us a Samoan hymn and it is so sweet. I have felt myself change in this past week alone! It is amazing to me. I miss all of you so much and being here has made me realize how much I truly love all of you.

 

Unfortunately I only have 30 minutes on the computer! Ah!! Well, what else, OH! I got the care package!! I love it! Really anything is good to have. Maybe some more hard candy, peachie o's, and gummie bears! Also, the ring!! My size is 9.5. I would like to get that before I leave in 2 WEEKS!! I can't believe its already been a week. Time truly flies.. Sunday was so great. We had some good meetings with good lessons taught. Identifying the Spirit and knowing our Heavenly Father loves us just to name a couple.

 

Keep using Dear Elder. Don't email me on here... Reading it drains my time I have to write you! Just FYI, oh and send me my navy blue BYU shirt! I don't have it here. (I think).

 

On Tuesday I think, Elder ******** and I were at the front desk trying to contact someone who he could talk to about his issue, when all of a sudden I saw Tim! Yes, Tim Taylor haha. I was very surprised, but I guess Hunter's ankle is still giving him some issues. So he came home on a medical release. I really hope he gets everything resolved and that he doesn't have to have another surgery. That would be terrible. But it was good to see Tim, I told him to tell you that I love you guys!!

 

I have really been trying to keep the spirit with me, and I've found that you literally have to be obedient 100% of the time! Its hard to do, but I've been doing my best I have to remember to repent daily for the things that I do wrong. For gym, I have been playing a lot of futbol which is a lot of fun! One of the rules is no headers, which I have a hard time obeying... especially when you have a perfect cross right in front of the goal just begging to be headed in! Pero... esta bien. I have learned a lot of spanish! I have learned to pray, bear my testimony, and were learning to conjugate the verbs. Present tense/past/and future. So I will try to do that for you when I close this letter. Only 10 minutes left!

 

Bridger and Ethan, thank you for your letters guys! Bridge, did you really get a double lincoln? Like, for reals? IF so... I'm impressed. Haha and Ethan! Way to go holmes! I'm glad you're loving football! But when you get both hands on the ball, GRAB it!! :) Haha I love you guys so much and I miss you! Keep writing me about whatever is going on in your life okay? I love hearing about it.

 

Mom and Dad! Thank you so much for your letters. I'm glad you were able to get my letter okay! I'm sorry it was short, I didn't have much time to write. But I will be printing off some pictures and I will send them via the mail shortly... Mom, its okay to be sad, but just know that I love you and I truly do feel your prayers, as I do everyone elses. I am so grateful for that. I hope that everyone will keep me in their prayers these next two weeks. Our district is now SYL (speak your language) all the time except in gym and class. It is pretty hard to do, but with the power of the Holy Ghost I know that I will be able to learn a TON. Dad, keep the boys in line for me! Even though I gave bridger the keys to be the man of the house while I'm away. Thank you for everything you have done for me. I love you so much. I couldn't ask for a better example in my life. You are the man. Yo se que la iglesia de Jesucristo es verdadera. Yo se que Jose Smith fue llamado a Dios. Yo se que la oracion es muy importante por nuestro Salvacion. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador. Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios. I love this gospel. I love all of you soo much. You are all in my prayers. Choose the right and stay strong boys. I know you can do it.

 

I miss all of you so much! Keep writing me!

 

Love your son and brother,

 

Elder Jordan Van Christensen