"God answers prayers."‏

Hey family!

So this week has really passed by quickly for me, probably for a number of reasons. Some good, some not so good, haha. Ill go ahead and touch on the good!

So do you remember when i sent an email right after moms day saying that i was hoping to find a family that week? And how i asked for extra prayers and such? Well, the Lord came through! We found that family! Yup! An entire family completely prepared to hear the gospel. We were introduced to them by a member, and they are all so willing to change their lives, and let Christ in. Their names are: Roberto - dad - 51, Francisca - mom - 50 ish, Fran - son - 23, Luz - daughter - 20 (who we don't know yet, should be getting home today), and Miriam - daughter - 17. The only downside is that the mom and dad aren't married... But they have plans to get that taken care of soon. They all are willing to be baptized, and the kids will be baptized first on the 9th of June! They ALL came to church today, and loved it. I feel so blessed to be teaching them. Roberto offered the closing prayer in their home and started to cry as he pleaded for his families happiness. "Heavenly Father truly answers prayers", i told my comp as we left their home. I have been praying ever since i have been in Sicuani to find a family that is prepared to hear our message. The Lord held through on His part, now we have to do ours and teach them this true, restored gospel. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!! We continue to work with our other investigators that are progressing, but seem to always have problems that keep them from baptism.

Today in our Zone Meeting, I talked about our potential as sons and daughters of God, as well as our potential as missionaries. We as missionaries have a huge potential! Having been called by a living prophet of God, having been set apart and given the authority to preach His gospel, we labor gladly bringing souls unto Christ. However, if we aren’t obedient, if we don’t truly study the gospel, if we don’t work diligently, and if we don’t have faith in God that He will support us every step of the way, we cannot reach that potential. It went well, and we encouraged the zone to work even harder to reach the goals that we have set for next month, June.

So… this week you’ll never guess what we had for lunch! Haha…. Ahh… Ready? Sheep head soup. Floating in the soup was pieces of brain, along with skin. She didn’t give us any of the eyeballs, the tongue, etc, thank goodness. She did it mostly as a joke on us. A really, really disgusting joke. But for them, it’s a delicacy. Really! They enjoy eating the eyeballs, the tongue, brains, etc. Hahaha I love her! Her name is Mery, and her husband is “Pepe”. His real name is Juan, but everyone calls him Pepe. They are so great. Were all a big family in their house!

Oh, hey i want you to register me in a painting class at Weber please! Yes, painting. I almost forgot to remind you about that. Jose from Quillabamba has inspired me. I cant wait to show you the painting he painted for me! How goes everything with registering me for classes?

Anyways! I LOVE YOU ALL! Thanks for all the emails :) Till next week!

Elder Jordan Van Christensen

Sheep head. Its whats for lunch!

Sheep tongue

A baptism of a little girl named Milagros. We are helping their family to get activated! Yeah!

My comp and I on our hike like 3 weeks ago!

Sicuanimanta‏

Hello everyone!

 

Well, this week has been alright. Were pretty worried about the zone, for reasons that aren't important to include in the email. Haha, but yeah! I have been trying my best to be a good example with my companion. But we are trying to help the zone get pumped to work! For me personally, its never been so hard to get people to come to church, to get people to hear us, etc. Its a challenge that I feel like I need, and I am learning.

 

So something cool that happened yesterday was a member in our ward took us to her friends house to give her a blessing. Her friend was in a very recent car accident, well, bus accident where 6 people died, her mother was put into a coma, and she had her leg broken, her nose, and messed her back up pretty bad. Her daughter of 3 years old miraculously only got away with a concussion, and her boyfriend wasn't in the car, but was working. So anyway, she is still very fragile, and she just barely got home from the hospital. We were able to bless her, and her daughter, and we have a return appointment with them this week. They are all JW's, but are very open to hearing us.

 

Our teacher in Sunday School is awesome. He teaches half in Spanish, and half in Quechua. Quechua is quite a dominating language here. Maybe not as much in Sicuani itself, but in the pueblos outside of the city its what they speak.

 

Thanks dad for sending the instructions on how to play hand and foot! I am anxious to get the talks you printed out. Thanks for doing that! Let me know when you send it.

 

I sent Ethans letter just a week ago, so I hope you get it soon! Hey bridge, thanks for the quick email man!! I cant wait to see you guys either! So soon!

 

Anyway, I love you all so much! I have been really studying the scriptures, and I hope that you are all reading daily! Keep doing the basics. Keep me in your prayers! There are only like 10 Mondays left for you to write me! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

 

Elder Christensen

 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!! (yesterday)‏

Hey everyone!

 

Well, it was great to hear from all of you! Looks like I called at a good time! There isn't much to say, I just hope that everyone is doing well! I was thinking that if you are going to send a last package, that maybe you could include a tie or something for my comp (and maybe for me!), and maybe something for my pensionista and her husband? Just a thought. And let me know when you figure things out for Weber State, so that we can get me signed up for classes once and for all!

 

I keep working hard here, even though there are trials, I know that they are to teach me and help me grow. I am hoping to find a family this week that we may teach, and help them to come unto Christ. Keep us in your prayers, we need them now more than ever!

 

Love,

Elder Christensen

 

Pics!‏

¡Greetings! From.....‏

Hey family!! And everyone else!

So, looks like I am going to finish my mission in a place called Sicuani, Peru. (Look it up on Google) It’s a small-ish zone tucked up in the Andes about 3 hours outside of Cusco. Its also just 3 hours away from where I started the mission – Puno! Haha. It’s a really cold zone, and I am stoked to be Elder Burboa’s comp. He’s from Chile, and we are the Zone Leaders here. We have lots of plans to be visiting all the elders and to work with all of them. We have the highest altitude in the mission at Espinar. It’s about 2-3 hours from Sicuani and has an altitude of… uh… something like 3,900 meters, which is in feet somewhere around 14,500. Its pretty cold there, haha. So, I’m stoked to be here, even though its pretty cold, well, at nights and mornings. Its actually kind of like a mini-Juliaca. Hahahaha, I never thought I would come to this zone, but I know that the Lord needs me here for one reason or another. Elder Williams and I actually came here to have a baptism like a year ago. Oh, and my pension ROCKS. We are all a family it feels like. We actually live in the same building as another companionship, and its really fun. She made French toast the other day!!  Seriously, I’m loving it here! I’ve learned that in the mission, its not where you serve, but how you serve. And attitude is everything! I personally feel like I have a great attitude coming to this zone, and that’s a key ingredient to having success. I’m confident I will have success this change. Especially with Elder Burboa, he’s really awesome. We get along great, seeing that we have been friends before.

So, MOTHERS DAY! I thought it was like 5 months away?? Now its next week? What? Time is really flying by. Goodness! So, we will be talking most likely toward the nighttime, I think. Sometime during the afternoon. I will be letting you know. No worries! I love when I hear from my little brothers!! Thanks so much for writing, Ethan. You da best! And shame on the rest. Ha, that rhymed.

So, the work is kinda slow for now, but we are working hard to have some baptisms this change, to find those chosen souls that are out there looking for the truth. I don’t have much time to write, I’m sorry! But Internet is faster here, so next week I will send pics!

I love you all! Please pray for us and the Sicuani Zone! We need it!

Elder Christensen