Elders Christensen's excellent adventure for the Lord

Elders Christensen's excellent adventure for the Lord
And they're off!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Matt 5-31-10

Wow another super crazy week‏
From: Matthew Eric Christensen

Sent: Mon 5/31/10 1:47 PM
To: S. Christensen
Well hello from California!!

So I see I didn't get an email this week but thanks for the letter! And thanks for the package!!! I finally got it. When I opened it and saw the allergy pills I was like wow! My mom must be psychic cause I really needed some! And the gloves fit great I’m going to put them to work soon! :)

So last week I told you that I got a new companion named Elder Harper well that is no more. He went home... so after I emailed you last week we went back to the apartment and wrote letters and stuff and elder Harper had the phone and made some phone calls and I just didn't really notice anything. Well on Tuesday he said that we were going to Oakland for something and I just went along with it and it turns out it was for an interview with President Wade. And I was thinking wow this is weird it’s the beginning of the transfer, but I just went along with it. Later that night I asked elder Harper if I could do anything for him and he said no so we finished the day just like normal. Then on Wednesday we had district meeting and went to visit a couple of other people. But he said that he was waiting for a phone call from someone (President Wade) so around 4 O'clock the call finally came and he was like well we are going home cancel all of our appointments for the night I have to pack... I kinda knew this was coming but it still through me for a spin! So that’s what we did for the rest of the night. He packed and I just sat there doing nothing. I got really frustrated cause now I’m in an area that I know nothing about again!
Now I’m with the district leader elder Watson and his companion elder Williams. And they are great elders. We are covering the two wards that I have Hillcrest one and two and also their ward Marsh Creek so it has been a very interesting week trying to figure everything out and still do missionary work.

So now I have been on both sides of sending some one home early and having some one come home early... but I know that everything happens for a reason. And it will be better for him to work things out at home. I have come to realize that by praying and working with the Lord everything works out. One of my favorite scriptures is 2cor. 12:10 I got this one from Danny and it has been a way for me to realize that if we take all of our trials with a faith in Christ that we will be able to get through them a lot easier. Another good scripture is ether 12:27. I know that through the atonement Christ is able to help us all not just for our sins but for all the other feelings as well. Whether its stress or depression or anything Christ has felt it all and I’m so thankful for that.

I love you, thanks for all the support!

Love Elder Christensen

Monday, May 17, 2010

From Ben...
Hello again another great week here in the good old Moorpark. So, over the last week we have been helping our investigator family clean their( is that the right one? haha) house and it is a freaking mess!! like no joke take the worst house ever and times it by like thirty! we started in the back yard but realized we couldn't do anything there until we put all the Christmas decorations up in the attic so we did and then we sorted a bunch of junk and threw away 8 garbage bags of crap and old clothes and dirty clothes and such, which was nasty, and then the next day went back and started on part of the upstairs and cleaned out the guest bedroom and Ashley's room and made another 4 trips back to the dumpsters at our apartment so now you can actually walk in the guest bed room and the hall to get to it, we also cleaned the side of the house where you usually put the garbage cans but couldn't because of all the crap and old garbage and stuff. It was probably one of the grossest things that I have ever done it smelled way bad. On Saturday we went and started cleaning the garage which is by far the worst thing I have ever seen there was wall of boxes and junk 6 feet tall and takes up the entire garage and to make the whole thing worse we had to clean up all their nasty clothes that were on the garage floor because they were supposed to be washed but it never happened. To top it all off they have rats and mice living in the garage so it was covered in rat poop! So, after we got it some what cleaned and organized I took some imitative and set the rat traps and I am hoping that we catch something. It was weird everyone was like "I hope you stay for the next transfer cuz I am not cleaning them up"... big babies. haha We also had a great lesson with them on Saturday night about authority and why we need it we did the cup lesson with them and showed them how Christ’s church was set up in bible times and explained how our church holds the same authority and is set up basically in the same manor as Christ’s church was. Oh and they came to church on Sunday! we were supposed to speak which is why they were coming and when we got there we found out that we got bumped because a senior couple returned to the ward and would be giving their home coming talks. so we thought ok this could still turn out to be a good meeting wrong it went badly but its ok because they were welcomed into the ward very well and agreed to come next week when we speak for sure! :)
So, now for the rest of Sunday I went and got my eyes checked and I guess I have ulcers on my eye no big deal it was from allergies and this crappy solution so I have to wear my glasses for the next two weeks and I got new one I’m not sure how much they are going to cost yet but I got a pretty good deal so it shouldn't’t be over 150 for frames and lenses the good ones not just the cheap ones the guy that did my exam is a member and totally hooked us up he gave a ton of drops for my eye like a year supply and a bunch of good contact solution so it does not happen again it was a good visit to say the least. So remember how I told you I needed good glasses, cuz the ones I have are -2.5 and my prescription is -3.75 so I'm running on half power right now but its all good :)
I’m so glad that Chris’s farewell went well that’s awesome he is going to be such a great missionary! tell him bye for me and get me his mtc and mission address so I can still write him letters and such. As for Tom and Allison I’m so glad that they finally had the opportunity to go to the temple and get sealed that is so amazing!
I’m glad that Jeff’s baptism went well also I hope he always remembers the covenants that he has made with the lord to always remember him and have his spirit to be with him as he does these things he will have the strength to make the right choices in his life and will be able to serve a honorable full time mission!
I’m glad that Laina stopped by isn’t she the bestest!!!! Thanks for the grammar lesson I needed it I never could figure out when to use the right "there" haha well I don’t know if I am going to get transferred or not yet I haven’t gotten my call so hopefully I get it while I am still at the library or you will just have to wait until next week...

love and miss you all thanks for all the wonderful support you give me

love elder Christensen
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:35:49 -0700
Subject: Re: Busy Sunday
From Matt
To: pickleballgal@hotmail.com
Hello family!
Well this week has been awesome!!! So lets get to the important things first. I’m getting transferred! To Antioch serving in the Hillcrest first and second ward. My new comps name is elder Harper and I’m super excited! Elder Lambe will be staying here and training again and he is the new district leader.

Wow! That does sound like a super busy weekend. I’m surprised that you have let dad go fishing twice before he got the yard up and going. Ha-ha that sounds like a super good trip. How did the fiberglass on the boat work? I’m so excited that Tom and Alison were able to be sealed in the temple! They truly were meant for each other.
I bet Chris’s talk was super good, I know he is going to be the best missionary ever! He is totally right about how the Savior is always there for us we just have to reach out our hand for him to help us. One of my favorite pictures of the savior is the one where He is knocking on the door and there isn't a door knob on the out side... cause we have to be the one to let him into our lives.

That’s super awesome that Jeff was able to be baptized and that Grant and Kate both were able to give talks. We were able to go to a baptism for a lady that elder Lambe started teaching and it was super awesome! The spirit was so strong!!

That’s sweet that the kids in your class don't come for the whole week! That would be so nice!
Where are Adam and Amy moving to?
Well thanks for the spelling lesson I know that I’m terrible but I do try haha I love you a ton talk to you soon.

Love elder Christensen

Monday, May 3, 2010

Matt 4-3-10

Date: Mon, 3 May 2010 13:02:05 -0600
From Matt
Wow I can't believe that it is may already! it’s crazy. I have decided that no matter where you are April is always rainy or snowy for you at home, and May always has better weather!
That is super crazy that you are going to have a super short summer. It is going to be a super big bummer! I’m glad that I had a long summer rather than long Christmas. haha
Oh man I can't believe that it is already Chris’s and Grandpa’s birthday, tell them happy birthday for me.
Yeah I have heard of missionaries going home from other missions for various reasons... but I haven't heard of much of that here in Oakland. Yes I heard about Aaron that is super exciting I always knew that he would go back out. I’m not sure about which mission he is going to but he is going to be great where ever he goes.
I’m glad that Adam and Amy had fun on their trip. Cali is so amazing across the whole state! I’m super jealous that they got to go to Disney land! Yes, we sure did have some super fun times there. I remember the time with grandpa Ed and the whole fam and how fun that trip was and also the time with just you dad Paul Ben and I. it was always fun to be together as a family.
Yes, tell Dave Neiman thanks for thinking of me while he was here. It was nice to know that he was thinking of me.
Well sorry it is so short today but this week wasn't really eventful. Keep up all the good work and I pray for each of you every night.
Love, Elder Matt Christensen
On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 10:34 AM, Bennett William Christensen < wrote:
Oh hey,
So first things first about the calling thing I think 9 should work but that is kind of late seeing as we have to be in by 9 30 at the latest but we will see what I can pull... I will probably call your cell phone and may even call this week to let you know the details I will be calling from a member’s house and I don’t think I will be using our cell phone but I'm not really sure.

So I hear that the weather has been crazy back home but it sounds like normal Utah weather to me haha I miss it one day sunny and hot the next day it snows 3 inches its always an adventure.
This was a great week! It started off a little rocky because we had to drop three investigators because of the same issue, blacks and the priesthood. It was weird my E. Simmons said that it has only happened to him like two times in his entire mission and I just happened to have two people in the same ward. But that’s ok because we also found three new investigators this week it was sweet! we started teaching this girl Ashley who has met with missionaries since she was 16 and it has been kind of off and on since then now she is 24 and home for a while cuz she got in trouble with the law and drugs and all that bad stuff and is on probation so we cant baptize her for at least a year but we can teach her family which is what we plan on doing. When we got to her house to teach her we had to go to the back yard to share the lesson because she was the only one home and I guess she had been weeding all morning because her neighbor complained about their back yard and so after the lesson we had with her, we told her we were going to come back after lunch and help her finish weeding her backyard. While we were helping her for like 2 hours her mom came home and said “are you angles or what?" So we started talking to her to and she got us some water and a snack so we took a break and started talking about the church which is kind of a normal subject seeing as we are missionaries and as we were talking about revelation or something the mom just stopped us and said " I just had the biggest feeling of warmth and peace" pretty sure my jaw hit the ground!!! good thing elder Simmons was there he told her that that’s what we do as missionaries is bring that feeling to people it was amazing we are meeting with Ashley on Tuesday and her mom said that she is going to feed us next week!!
Next miracle: So on Saturday we went and helped this part member family clean out their garage. If you think we have allot of crap your wrong. It took us six hours. We were there from 10 to four and when we were done there was nothing in the garage on the floor!!! It was pretty sweet. But that’s not the miracle so last week we asked brother Seagal if we could start teaching him again cuz he has had 20 sets of missionaries over the last 12 years or so and still has not joined the church comes every week and takes his son to priesthood and everything he even has a calling!!! And still wont join the church but he is going to let us teach him which the miracle is! So we are going to go about it a different way we are going to have his friends in the ward and his wife there, none of the kids cuz they are really distracting and annoying. haha

Last night we had dinner at Bishop Williams’s house he is an awesome guy probably one of my favorite families in the ward. At dinner we found out that they were playing some settlers game which my E. Simmons loves so we stayed and played for like 2 hours for family night it was freaking fun I didn’t know how to play the first game so I watched and jumped on the tramp :) it was an awesome night.

To answer your question no I don’t think I have had any anxiety about anything have I ever? no. As for people going home it happens a lot more then you think it would or should definitely, but I am very glad that Aaron is going back out I think that he is going to Boston or somewhere back east that is what Chris told me.
I’m glad to hear that Chris is doing great what day does he go into the mtc? I want his address when you find it out so I can stay in contact with him!

As for some street names, that I forgot last week, so you can stalk me on Google earth. I live off of Majestic in the apartments and we are usually on Tierajada I think that’s how you spell it some other main roads are Wallnut Creek and Mountain Meadows and Mountain trail and Country Wood and Peach Hill to name a few. We are on the west side of the Arroyo rive towards Thousand Oaks that is our area.

Sorry it is kind of short but I will talk to you all on Sunday I look forward to talking to you all!
Love, elder Christensen