Not just 12 weeks...

On May 5th, 2010 my future for the next two years was decided.

Still asleep, my dad comes in my room, wakes me up, and says the phone is for me. I look at the time, seeing it was 7 something in the am, I wondered who in the world would want me on the phone at such an awful hour. Come to find out its our mail-woman, calling and informing me that a large envelope with my name on it, preceded by the title "Elder", had arrived. She gave me the option to come pick it up or wait until the mail came. My heart jumped up in my throat, and any and all sleepiness disappeared in an instant. My mission call was finally here.

I jumped out of bed still in sleeping attire, (or the lack thereof) and went to tell my dad the news. I think he was more expectant that it would come that day, and seeing the post office was calling, he put two and two together. He told me that I should go inform my mother of the news... He didn't realize that I had already made plans to surprise her.

My dad went upstairs nonchalantly, got his keys, and I went out the back door up to the garage. After getting to the post office, I rang the bell and sure enough, she showed up with MY mission call. She also told me that Hunters call had came that day as well, but she couldn't get a hold of him. I thanked her, told her I would tell Hunter, and was on my way. I sat in the quiet car for a couple minutes just holding it in my hands. I don't know what it was, but I got kind of emotional. My call from the Lord was finally in my hands. Its been a long time coming.

I got home, and waited at the garage door because I could hear mom moving about in the laundry room. After I thought the coast was clear, I walked in very quietly. I didn't see her, and my dad informed me she was in the bathroom. Haha. So I walked over to the bathroom, and proceeded to slip the envelope under the door. There was about 8 seconds of silence, then came the response, "Are you kidding me. Really?" I just laughed and let her take it in. After the initial shock was over, we realized that we had A LOT to do. So I ran to the store and got the things she listed for me while everyone pitched in and cleaned up whatever needed to. We had time though, people weren't supposed to show up until 7:30 or so.

Everyone went to Hunters house beforehand to see him open his mission call. He was called to the Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission! I'm way stoked for him! There are so many of us that are serving Spanish speaking missions, it's almost weird. Only a select few are serving in the States, and a couple in Europe. The rest are in Central and South America.

Afterward, everyone kind of just migrated up to my place. Family from both sides of the family were there, as well as many, many friends, and families from the ward as well. Cars were literally lined up down both sides of the street, pretty far. As soon as 8 o'clock rolled around, it was game time. I thanked everyone for coming, and asked my dad to say a prayer before we began. As soon as he opened his mouth I felt the Spirit so strongly. After the prayer, I took a deep breath and slowly opened the letter. I wanted to read it line by line, so I quickly flipped the letter underneath the mission packet. Slowly I slid the mission packet down, first revealing "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints," then, "May 4th 2010," and finally, "Dear Elder Christensen:"

The letter goes as follows:

"Dear Elder Christensen:

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Peru Cusco Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 24 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, September 1, 2010. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language. Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president."

It was such an amazing experience, just knowing that I am meant to go to Peru, love the people, and bring them to the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ and his restored church on the Earth again today. Words could not describe my excitement! The Peru Cusco Mission is brand new, who knows, maybe thats why it took so long! My mission wasn't open just yet.

So after a few tears were shed, the congratulating began. Come to find out that many people I know have been to Cusco for various reasons. From seeing Machu Picchu, to volunteering at an orphanage for 4 months. I am grateful for the knowledge that they are able to share with me! It makes me that much more excited to serve! With my dad having served his mission in Detroit Michigan, and my mom having served hers in Boston Massachusetts, I thought I was for sure going state-side. And if not state-side, I thought maybe Europe. But I was way wrong. I couldn't have picked a better place. Although it took 12 weeks from the time my papers were submitted for my call to get to me, it was worth the wait.

And hey, I've waited all my life for this. Not just 12 weeks.

Mexico: Part One.

It has snowed about 4 inches over the last 24 hours. This storm has been quite unexpected for its magnitude. It’s a chilly 34 degrees on our way to the airport and everyone is dressed in winter apparel, except for us. T-shirts and shorts all around. We step out of the car into the bitter cold and check our luggage in and get our boarding passes. The security process went smoothly and we made our way to our terminal, boarded the plane, and began the 4.5 hour flight to the hot, humid, and of course, lovely Yucatan.

We arrive in Cancun around 2:30 to quite a boring airport. Nothing like SLC Intl. We made our way through Immigration and we talked to what appeared to be a concierge. He gave us some tips, showed us the ratio of pesos to US dollars, and what not to get ripped off on. On our way out, we get our rental car and made our way to Playa Del Carmen. When we got to Playa, we stopped at Sam’s Club. Yes, they have Costco and Sam’s Club here in Mexico. All the little ninos run up and down the aisles chasing each other. All you hear are the blur of the conversations shared by the locals. As were shopping around, we cannot find milk for the life of us. So I mustered up what little I could remember from my 9th, 10th, and 11th grade years of Spanish and asked a lady, “Donde esta la leche?” And then came the response, “Siete por el pasillo.” I heard “siete” so obviously to me that meant aisle seven! Alright, Spanish isn’t that bad, I can make my way around! So we get to aisle seven, and the milk comes in individual 12 oz. packages that are all in a big box. It is not refrigerated, which is odd to me. But, I had my Honey Bunches of Oats this morning, and the milk was perfectly normal. We later found cases of fifteen bottles of Sangria, for the equivalent of 5 U.S. dollars. So we bought two. We have fresh pineapple, mangos, and apples! All of which are absolutely delicious. So we finally pay, put the groceries in the carro, and make our way to our condo.

Finding our condo was and adventure in itself. The directions of our concierge at the airport failed us. So we now had to turn to asking the locals for directions. So we stop and ask a policeman if he knows where our condo complex is. Another local stops by who speaks little English, and talks it over with the policeman for about 5 minutes before finally coming to an agreement. This complex where we are staying is only a year old, so it’s no wonder nobody really knows where it is, including them. So we stop yet again and ask another local who then gives us correct directions, finally! We get to our resort and unload the car along with all the groceries. Finally we make it to the room. We open the door, and walk into a totally legit condo. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry room, balcony with a table overlooking the pool/ocean, flat screen TV, leather couches, king bed in one room, and two twins in the other. I must say that I am thoroughly impressed with this place. The beds are very comfortable, and the AC works great. All in all, so far so good! The fam gets in bed around 11, because today we had to wake up at 6:30 to be ready for our tour of Chichen Itza by 7:30. Now I on the other hand, being the night owl I am, stay up talking to some buddies on Facebook for another couple hours. Go figure.

I’ll give you some necessary background info on how we got our tour guide. My dad knows a guy, Mark Nelson, who was here on vacation last fall and had a tour guide whose name was Lemuel. Yes, like the Lemuel in the Book of Mormon. He is LDS and from what Mark said, he gave them a great tour of the many temples and ruins in Chichen Itza. His family names all of their children after the people of the Book of Mormon. Such as: Nephi, Helaman, Mosiah, Alma, Sarah, and Lemuel, to name a few. Now, Lemuel has a son who is Lemuel Jr. Mark and Lemuel were talking, and Mark all of a sudden had a thought come to his mind: “You need to make sure they are prepared to come to General Conference in April.” He blew it off thinking nothing of it. But as he was conversing with Lemuel Jr. this thought came to his mind twice more. So without thinking, Mark blurted out, “Lemuel, your family needs to be ready to come to General Conference in April.” Lemuel said, “Oh Mister Mark, yes we watch Conference every year.” Mark, seeing that he didn’t understand said again, “No Lemuel, you and your family need to be ready to come to General Conference in April.” Lemuel said, “Oh…” while a surprised look overcame his face. He left for a little while, but came back with tears streaming from his eyes. “Mark, it has been my dream to go to Conference all my life. All my moneys go to my family to help them. And I have prayed that if we were to ever go, it would be because we had been helped. Mister Mark, I want you to know that I received an answer to my prayers in less than 24 hours.” So after Marks family returned home, they had many fundraisers set up. Many people in different wards had helped with donations to bring their humble family to Utah. My family attended Marks ward last Sunday, in which we heard this amazing story from the family members themselves. The Spirit was so strong during that meeting. Lemuel translated for his wife, and even though it was hard to understand her, I knew that she believed what she was saying was true.

Lemuel does tours of Chichen Itza for a living, and so does his nephew, Nephi. We talked to Lemuel and he contacted Nephi and got us set up for a tour. We called him yesterday, and told us to be ready by 7:30 am the next day. So we did just that. We woke up early with me only having about 4 hours of sleep. We got in Nephi’s van, and began the 2 hour drive to Chichen Itza. Needless to say, I caught up on some much needed sleep on the ride up. We purchase our tickets and begin our tour. Nephi, in Spanish it is spelled Nefi, gave us an amazing tour with superb insight as to what the many symbols mean and how it pertains to the Book of Mormon. There are so many instances where no one else can explain it without the knowledge the Book of Mormon gives us. One thing that really stood out to me was the carving of a bearded man, whom the Mayans called “The Great White God”. We know this to be Christ.

Probably one of my favorite ruins was where a game was played. Strangely enough, this game can be found in the movie El Dorado. You know, the game with the high walls that go down each side of a field with a hoop at the top? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I highly recommend watching El Dorado. This game is played with 6 or 7 players on each team. You cannot touch the ball with your hands or feet. Only your arms and hips, just like in the movie! At the end of the game a sacrifice is made. We are not sure who the sacrifice is however. There are carvings that show a player being decapitated, so that is a pretty good hint to the sacrifice. But can you imagine my excitement when I saw this? I thought El Dorado was just pure myth! Well, I guess the whole golden city is pretty farfetched, but they got the game and the temples right!

After seeing all of the ruins and bargaining with some vendors, it was time for lunch and swimming in the cenote! (Pronounced: sen-OH-tay) Lunch. Was. Amazing. I love Mexican food, hands down. I had black beans, rice, beef, fish, chicken, and corn tortillas to wrap it all up in. Salad with green peppers and onions, chips and the spiciest salsa I’ve probably ever had: habanero salsa. We had fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, and watermelon. And to top it all off, a cold glass of limonada. Mm, mm, mm!! So good.

A cenote is like a huge gaping hole in the earth. It is about 250 feet from the top of the hole to the water, and about 150 feet from side to side. No one knows how deep the water goes. No one has ever made it to the bottom. There is a staircase that takes you to the bottom of the cenote, and there is a platform along the side that goes about 25-30 feet up for jumping. The water is crisp, cool, and refreshing. It’s very blue, with lots of fun fish swimming around. After doing some jumping and relaxing in the water, it was time to head home.

We decided tonight that we wanted some authentic Mexican tacos. So we walked down the street and found a taqueria. We sat down and basically made a fool of ourselves. Everyone was getting dinner, and a show. No one understood any English, so I had to try and be the translator. However, we ended up getting exactly what we wanted. I ordered two beef tacos, and one taco de cabeza. For those of you not familiar with this term, cabeza means head. In this taco, the meat was cow tongue. It was soo good! I was very surprised. Each taco was only 6 pesos. That’s equivalent to 50 cents. Everything really is quite cheap here. We also ordered Coca Colas all around. Mexican Coke tastes much better than American Coke. And that sounds like I’m talking about drugs. Moving on. We came to a Pizzeria on our way home, stopped and bought some pizza, which was quite delicious as well. We came back to the condo, watched Remember the Titans, and that brings me to right now; sitting on the bed writing all of this down, listening to Bridger as he talks in his sleep. That kid has some crazzzy dreams.

Mexico has been so much fun. It’s time for me to get some rest though. Gotta wake up to take my jog on the beach in the morn, and hopefully get a good shot of the sunrise. Till next time, salu pues!

Mexico. Part Two.

Caribbean life is rough. The noisy ocean waves waking me up while I'm trying to nap on the beach, the 80 degree humid weather making my skin all moist, the hot sun burning my shoulders, and the refreshing breeze that messes your hair up. Not to mention all of the delicious food that just keeps coming and coming! This just sucks.

Not. I love it here in Mexico and can't get enough of it! Its already Sunday, time has flown by way too fast, and its already half way gone. Well, lets see what has gone on in the last couple days...

I have yet to take my jog on the beach. Haha. Go figure. I definitely slept in, and enjoyed it. I did however get my workout on in the facility they have here at the condos. So I did do something, which made me feel better! Then we all had some breakfast. We decided to head down to the beach and just relax for a while. Just laying there with the sun bearing down on you, just puts you to sleep. Its so great being here with the family. I'm treasuring it for what its worth, because I know how much I'll miss it when I'm gone.

In the end, after all is said and done, your family will always be there.

How true that is. A lot has happened over just the last couple months. A lot of fun, laughs, and heartbreak. But at the end of the day, just knowing that I have someone to talk to and will listen, that they look up to me, and that they love me just gives me so much comfort. I love my family.

Walking the streets of Mexico has really been a culture shock. People living in metal/wooden shacks, clothes drying on clotheslines through alleyways, and everything is really dirty and broken down. (At least in the parts where people live.) It amazes me to see how the people live. Look at us. Look where we live. We have it SO good. I cannot believe how blessed I am. Every day I wake up in a bed, with a roof over my head, and I don't have to worry about my next meal. We have cars, we have great education oppurtunitites, and we have a Temple right in town. Some of these families save money their whole life just so they can make the trip to the temple. I am on vacation. In Mexico nonetheless! I am so utterly grateful for everything that I have, and for the hard work that my mom and dad put in so that we are able to make such great memories. Thank you guys, I love you.

Later in the evening we walked 5th Avenue, which is a famous street in Playa Del Carmen. You can find anything you want in these shops, and its pretty fun to barter with the locals for merch. My little brothers bought some pretty legit/fake Oakleys. These things look so real, they even have the "Made in the USA" imprint on the inside of the frame. I found a really cool knitted backpack that I bought for like 9 bucks. Totally worth it. On our way home, we stopped at a taco stand just off to the side of the street. Everyone got a couple tacos, which were so delicious. I can't get enough of the food here!! I just love it.

Yesterday morning was a lazy morning to say the least. My mom wanted to do an Easter egg hunt, so we went to the pool for a little while and came back to an Easter egg hunt, and breakfast: eggs, sausage, and pancakes all ready! It was verrry tastful. After we ate, we packed up and got ready for our day at Tulum with the rest of the family.

Tulum is a city about 45 mins south of Playa Del Carmen where we are staying. Playa Del Carmen is about 25 mins south of Cancun, just to give you an idea. Anyway, we get to Tulum and meet up with the family and have some fun on the beach/ocean. Then we showered and got ready for our Salsa lesson! Our instructor was pretty femmy, but boy did he know how to dance. Me and my cousin Montana got it down, and we were salsa-ing like it was nobodys business. So, I can kinda safely say that I know how to salsa! It is however a lot easier when you dance with someone who also knows how to salsa. My other cousin Parker dragged me over to ask some girls to dance, and we ended up having a lot of fun! Except, she didn't really know how to salsa, so we just kind of did our own thing, haha. Dinner was great, the steak fajitas never seem to fail me.

This morning we woke up early and went to a resort called "Xel-Ha" with the whole family. This place is breathtaking. It really is. We got there and found a cabana to keep our stuff at and to basically be the home base for the day. All the food and drinks are included, along with a lot of other things. We snorkeled, cliff jumped, rode bikes, and the highlight of the trip: swimming with dolphins. That is something I will never forget! It was such a fantastic experience. If you ever get the chance to do it, I would fully recommend it.

Apparently there is a huge storm warning over Utah? Ahh... I really did pick a great time to get out of that place.

Arizona.

Spring break in Arizona. Its a comfortable 78 degrees and shining every day, what more could you want for spring break? Well, its been quite a fun 4 days here in Phoenix. I ate some real sushi for the first time, slept under a tree in a park, and have just had some real worry-free, quality time here. For the most part.

When we were walking in downtown on our way back to the car, I heard a scream up the road. I couldn't see anyone though. As we get closer, I realize that it was coming from this old Native American lady sitting in a bus stop with her Mexican buddy, who didn't speak a lick of ingles. This is how the situation unfolded:

The lady proceeds to say, "Heeyyyy! W-wait a minute! Could you guys do mee the favor of.. lending me onethousand dollarsss?" (in slurred speech). Eric then says, "Well, we would if we had it!" Then she says, "Okayy well let me tell you a joke while you're at it..." (proceeds to tell dirty, dirty jokes.) Jarom then says, "Well, we gotta go now were late for a meeting!" To that she says, "Waaaaiiit!!!!"........... and we continue on our way. I then burst out in laughter unable to contain myself anymore. Things like this make things like walking aimlessly around town quite enjoyable.

Last night we drove around looking for a place to have dinner. We stopped at the first place that looked somewhat harmless. Padres was the name of the restaurant. It was so delicious! Some of the best Mexican food I have ever had. We sat down at about 7:30 to a traditional patio setting. Lights zig-zagging overhead from building to building, murals lining the walls, people laughing, and some soft authentic mariachi music playing in the background. We had a fantastic time. Afterwards, we all decided to go down to the hot tub and discuss politics, the gospel, and whatever else our discussion would lead to, over a cold bottle of Martinellis.

Yet... all the while, even with these fun times, it is still on my mind. Day after day. Being here just makes it constant, and that doesn't help. I try and just push it aside, but there is always something that I see, hear, or even taste that reminds me. Ahh.. Arizona, it's been bittersweet. Till we meet again.

I Am Called of God

This is a message from Elder Bruce R. McConkie that I absolutely love. My parents gave it to me on a card that I can bring with me on my mission. I can always read this and remember my true purpose for serving as a missionary:

"I Am Called of God.
My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His place, to say and do what He himself would say and do if He personally were ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My words are His words and my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done. To say what He wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter-day work."

-Elder Bruce R. McConkie

All of you missionaries and soon-to-be missionaries, this is something to think about.