9 Months In ... and a Top 11 List

This week, specifically March 5th, is Ethan's nine-month mark on his mission -- huge milestone! We feel like the time is flying by! Ethan's letter this week was a list. Fun! Except for #1 and #2...scary, but thankful it's not worse / and so glad it didn't happen. So appreciate sweet friends and #3. Definitely need to discuss #11 with Ethan -- is this really a good idea? (#NoBueno) Item #5 is an inside family joke...we have a total obsession with watching the chubby babies at church, or anywhere, really. OK, yes, perhaps a unique family hobby. But "chubby" has become family shorthand for all kinds of endearments. Item #5 really says: "Andrew, I love you!" Item #8 made me pause. Ethan has been a loyal, passionate Green Bay Packers fan forever. In fact, as I write this, I'm wearing the GBP slippers he left home. They are way too big, but a fun reminder of him. So, his purchase made me smile and shows a great love of his adopted state! Overall, and most important, powerful training and experiences in #4 and #6 -- and great joy that the sweet family he and Elder Roth have been teaching will be getting baptized on March 9th. And finally, #10 -- is it really a "flock"? I think flock of seagulls, flock of geese (or is that a gaggle?)...but not so much about the deer. I'm going to have to look that up, it's just not sounding right -- please feel free to weigh in. :)

March 3, 2014

Familia!

Holy sweet Israel this was by far the craziest week of the mission yet. Here are some of the smaller things:

1. A dog bit me. It was small bite and it didn't really hurt and I was riding my bike while it happened. When dogs come up, I normally just stick my foot out and try to give them a little tap on the nose or face to get them to go away instead of starting right off the bat just whaling them. So, I did that and it somehow caught on and bit my foot. So after it bit me I slowed down just a bit so it was directly next to me, and then I had to stomp the dog off. I’m totally fine though it wasn't very bad at all it just kind of surprised me that's all. There is no bruise or anything.

2. I was almost hit by two cars this week.

3. I got everyone's packages and I loved all of them!!! Please tell the Gawrys’ and the Brewer’s I say hi and thank you!!

4. We had a representative from the Missionary Department come and do a training for the mission on Friday, and it pretty much changed every single thing we do about missionary work. We are the 71st mission to have received this training. It's hard to explain it all over an email but it was HUGE news. We're now trying to teach 7 min. restoration lessons, and pretty much the way we teach now is so, so, so simple, and a bunch of other crazy stuff, but it is sooo cool. The things we learned are more advanced than the stuff in Predicad Mi Evangelio (Preach My Gospel lesson book), I can't even begin to describe how amazing they are. This is the vision that Pres. Hinckley had when PME first came out and they threw out the missionary discussions. Read D&C 88:74 or 75, or somewhere around there. The Lord is hastening His work right now, literally as we speak His work is hastening!! Save this email (well I hope you're saving all of them), but this week pretty much just changed me more than anything. I am so grateful to be a missionary for the Lord's Church and I am especially grateful to be a Texas McAllen Missionary. There is nowhere I would rather be than right here in South Texas. I love this place. I love these people. I love how hot it is. I love all of it! The vision that the Lord has for us right now is so beyond anything we can even begin to imagine, it's insane. But He qualifies us in our weakness and is with us every single step of the way as long as we are obedient to His commandments.

5. Andrew #Chubby

6. I had the most powerful lesson of my mission hands down and the P. family is getting baptized this Sunday. We had fasted and prayed so much for them and so what we decided to do was throw in the towel on the previous lesson and teach the new 7 min. restoration lesson. All we used was the restoration pamphlet and we only talked about the pictures, no scriptures, analogies, personal experiences…not any of that. (This might not make sense to y’all but it is crazy what the people from the Missionary Department told us about shortening the lessons and helping the investigators learn by the Spirit). So, we go in there and it was the most powerful, Spirit-driven lesson ever, oh my goodness, Sis. P. was getting choked up when she read the First Vision and I thought the room was going to catch on fire because the Spirit was so strong. And when we asked them about baptism, Bro. P. just says, "Not tomorrow, but for sure next week." And they all agreed. Oh my goodness!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe, I mean I was just on the edge of my seat and felt like if I had moved my pinkie everything would have fallen apart, oh my gosh it was just amazing!!!!!!! That was like the best moment of my life!!!!!!!!!!!! And so they are down for this Sunday, March 9, 2014!! So please keep praying for them!!

7. A member takes us out eat every Monday to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and if I go there one more time I will literally throw-up everywhere. All I get there is a plate full of salad and chicken nuggets. It is so funny y’all would die, like everyone is eating with chopsticks and stuff and I’m all like: “uh, can you pass the ketchup?” hahaha

8. I bought Dallas Cowboy slippers at the store last week.

9. I don't know what I was sick with last week but I am 100% better now.

10. I saw a flock of deer while we were biking home one day.

11. I honestly believe I could bike for miles without touching the handlebars, I’m like a pro at it by now #NoHands

Les quiero muchisimo y hecho les ganas!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Christiansen.

"This Week Was Good But Way Hard"

Short note today...Doug, Andrew and I all could feel what a difficult week Ethan had experienced. Being sick...so not fun. Some disappointment and discouragement, broken appliances, and some wistful glaces at his favorite sport. It's an inspiring reminder to me about the sacrifice and dedication all missionaries give during their service. So humbling to think of more than 80,000 young people serving the Lord and their fellow human beings all over the world. Awesome.

February 24, 2014

What up fam?

This week was good but way hard. I got a letter from Brother Miller in the ward and it was super nice, tell him I said thank you. I also got two from Gar-Gar and that was nice, too. The P. family didn’t get baptized yesterday and it's complicated, but it stinks. Hopefully it will be this upcoming week though. Please continue to pray for them. Also, I was really sick on Saturday and that was no fun, too, and especially on the mission because I couldn’t go out and work ‘cause I was asleep for most of the day. But I am feeling a whole lot better now – I’m totally fine.

Haha – also we were biking the other day and a rat jumped onto Elder Roth's bike so that was pretty cool. Nothing much is happening here, like it just keeps on keepin’ on I guess. How is life at home? Oh, and our washer broke so now all our clothes are yellow. Haha, no just kidding – but the washer did break and we don’t know why, but we just did our wash at the member's house we live behind.

Hope baseball is going well! The high school here (Flour Bluff High School) had some games this week and when we bike by I’m always staring at them, haha. Also another missionary gave me the best orange tie yesterday, oh my gosh it’s not even that good of a tie but I love it, haha. Sorry this email is kind of short, but not too much happened this week.

Les quiero mucho!

Elder Christiansen

Obedience ... and Eating Pig Soup

Here's the news from the Bluff today. Ethan had an opportunity to speak Spanish again this week and loved it! And more new foods to try. Most important, he's excited about a family that is planning to be baptized and join the Church. He and his companion have been working with this family for several weeks, and they are excited to see a new happiness and purpose come into the lives of this entire family. And, he reminds us all to be obedient to God's commandments. Good encouragement from a great young man.

February 17

Querido familia,

This past week has been great! The P. family came to church yesterday and they planning on getting baptized this Sunday!!!!!!!!!!! So, I’m super happy about that. It’s also starting to get hot here again and I love it! One thing I have learned is that I love hot weather! It's all muggy and humid though, but it's all good. I can't believe its the middle of February already, ahhh!! Elder Roth is doing well – he is just like Tom from college. The area is going well, too. The wolf-pack is good as well.

A member of the Spanish Branch moved into our area so we met her and it was so fun, oh my gosh, it made me miss the Valley so much! (btw this is the 5th person I’ve spoken Spanish with that's not another missionary while I’ve been up here). So we met her and then a ton of members came over and they had all this awesome Mexican food and charo beans with chicharones (idk if that's how you spell it) but basically it's pig skin in soup and it wasn’t like super gross but I remember eating it and I was thinking, "uh, man this has a weird texture." It was so fun though ‘cause everyone was talking Spanish and it was so hot in her little apartment and you’re just eating with your hands and nobody cares, and oh man I loved it!!

We ride by a high school almost everyday and we go by the baseball field and they’re always out there practicing and it makes me miss it, too. Oh and I got Sister Overmyer's package, please tell her that I loved and thank you so much! Also Molly is engaged?!?! To who?! Tell her I said congrats! But, yea all is well down here en el sur de tejas! How is everyone at home? How's the extended family doing? Well, I love you guys and the gospel is true! However, we only receive the blessings when we are obedient to the commandments!! (Hence we prosper!) Disobedience just pulls us farther and farther away from the Lord so sean obedientes!!

Con mucho amor!!

Elder Christiansen

News from the Bluff ... Home of THE BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie!?

February 10, 2014

Hola Familia!

Sounds like everyone had a good week, minus dad being sick. That's super cool about Anne Parkes, too, tell her I say hi! This week has been good. The P. family didn’t come to church because the dad lost something, I don’t really know what, but they then came to a baptism that some other missionaries had Sunday night so that was good. Keep praying for them that they will get baptized.

Hahahaha its mucho muy (no "e") bien and you’d just say muy bien probably, haha. It’s all good though. I know I heard about Trot I’m so excited and happy for him, he is going to do so great up there!!! Wow, yea, the time does fly, but thankfully we have the gospel and we know exactly where they are right now (read Alma 40:11-12).

This week was good though, not too much happened again but it’s been good. Oh, actually I gave a 2-month-old baby a blessing so that was a cool experience (super little and chubby and round). Oh, and there is a family in the ward I’m in right now (Flour Bluff Ward) and they make THE BEST chocolate chip cookies, oh my gosh there are AMAZING!!!!! Like, oh, my gosh they are so good I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing they are!!! Also, I forgot my cord this week so no pictures :( But give Andrew an abrazo (hug) and that will make you feel better :)

We found out about transfers yesterday morning and I’m staying in Flour Bluff with Elder Roth for another 6 weeks (I’m happy about that). Life is good and the mission is beast! Oh, also I gave a 20-minute talk on the Book of Mormon in the YSA (Young Single Adult) Branch in the Stake yesterday so that was fun, too. And we have food appointments lined up for every day for the next two weeks except one day. #Yes #TheLordProvides.

I love y’all so much!

Elder Christiansen

Notes from me: So this letter made me smile so much. Ethan is so excited about friends coming home from missions and leaving on missions (Anne Parkes recently returned from Oklahoma City, OK, and Trot recently called to Vancouver, Canada). He's giving helpful tips on my Spanish :) And he also made a sweet comment about Feb. 9 being the 40th anniversary of Grandpa Page's and Uncle Danny's passing (my dad and brother), thus, sharing the scripture in Alma that says: "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection -- Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow."

And, I loved the chocolate chip cookie reference! The day we got this letter, I had just wrapped up a gift for a friend -- a cute little tea towel that said "Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie dough of life." So true! And so sweet that Ethan's letter went right along with that. I'm so glad he has friends and church members in Flour Bluff who are taking care of him, being kind to him, and baking him chocolate chip cookies! :) And glad he's staying in Flour Bluff for another six weeks! 

Riding Against the Wind in Flour Bluff

Here's Ethan's letter from today:

February 3, 2014

Mis amigos,

Man these past few weeks have been great! One thing about my area now: it is right on the Bay in Corpus Christi, so there are days when it is winding super hard, and that is a blessing when it's behind you and just pushing you on the bike. However, going against the wind is so hard it's ridiculous. We were riding against the wind one day and it took us 50 minutes to get to our appointment! The weather is really weird, like one day it’s 45 and the next it’s 70 and clear so it depends. I can’t wait for it to heat up again. I love it down here when it’s hot!

The work is going great though, I love it so much and it is just so much fun! We are teaching a family right now and yesterday was their first time coming to church and they loved it! That was by far the highlight of the week! They have two small kids who were going nuts during sacrament meeting and being super loud but, they came! That was the most important.

Being a missionary is awesome. Every day you just never really know what you're going to get, who you're going to talk to, or what crazy things will happen. It's just the best! There is also a huge military base in my area so there are always planes flying around everywhere so that's pretty cool, too. I spoke Spanish to some people this week as well! (my new area is mostly English speaking).

All in all I'm doing great. It is such a blessing to see the Lord work in my life everyday and I know that this is possible for each one of us. Love y'all! Sorry this is so short but I have to go, we don't get much computer time today. If you're having a bad week, start saying your prayers!

Cuidense y come bien andrew,
Elder Christiansen

It's a Small World 2.0 ... "I-Dawg's" Great Aunt

Photos!!! We always love to see Elder Christiansen's smiling face. He sent these pictures this week -- and, again, I continue to marvel at what a small world it is. Here's what he said:

"This is I-Dawg's great aunt!! I met her this week on the street (in Flour Bluff) and she said she had a missionary in Argentina and then she just goes "Ian Nobmann," and I was stunned! I was just like: "HAUDHASUIHIFHASDUFHASUISH!!!!!!!!!! I KNOW HIM HE'S ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!" hahaha it was pretty funny! I was way excited, so I took a picture with her." 

Ian's Great Aunt and Ethan!

So -- who is Ian Nobmann anyway? First day of freshman orientation at BYU and we're all there with Ethan -- Doug, Andrew, me. (We weren't stalking...this particular program was for parents and families as well.) We sat in the designated section on the side of the ballroom as Ethan and the rest of the new freshmen had special seating up front. The students were organized into small orientation groups for the week, and we watched Ethan go up to his assigned area like we were watching him walk into the first day of kindergarten. Gulp, and excitement! There was one other young man sitting there so Ethan joined him, they started talking and were friends from then on. This was Ian, and he lived down the hall from Ethan in May Hall. I-dawg, Ethan, and the rest of their buddies from May Hall are a "wolf-pack." They are terrific young men from all over the country, all freshmen at BYU, and now all serving LDS missions around the world: Washington, D.C., Spanish speaking; Argentina; Honduras; Texas Spanish speaking; etc. It's so cool that these friends can email each other on Mondays as well and keep in touch while they're on their missions. Great bonds. Love that Ethan got to meet "I-dawg's" great aunt -- a sweet connection to his friends.

Foggy morning in Flour Bluff. Foggy but happy. :) 

I love the smiling faces and the thumbs-up in these photos. Makes me so happy to see Ethan so happy!

"Just Keep Going" ... and Navy Planes

News and photos from Elder Christiansen today. Can I just say that I love Google Translate? It helps me with the Spanish words Ethan includes in his letters. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's definitely more accurate than me guessing. :)

January 27

Mi familia!

Howdy!!!!!!!!!! Man oh man, what a great day!! I remembered my camera today tambien :) So this week was pretty good we found two more people who accepted a baptism so that was good. We had a good church tour with the family we’re teaching, but they didn’t come to church because they were sick :( But we will help them :).

Ok, so we met this lady this week and she's probably 30 or something and so we had a good first lesson with her and like right in the middle she says: "Oh, where are y’all from?" and Elder Roth says, "Utah" and she just responds so quickly, “Yankee.” “And you?” (pointing to me), and I was like, “Oh, I’m from Tennessee.” And then she goes “yeaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!” and just wanted to talk to me – hahaha it was way funny. So we go over Sunday night to see why she didn’t come to church and she answers the door falling-over drunk, and so we sit down to talk and she just looks at me and goes, "Have you gained weight?" I was just like oh come on, gosh dangit is it that bad? hahaha it was super funny, though. Oh and Presidente Maluenda says “hi.” It was way cold here on Friday, too, I wore those pajama pants you sent me for Christmas under my regular pants to keep me warm!

The work is going great though, at times it is hard, so hard that you don’t really know what to do other than to just keep going, but as we go through those hard times with faith, trusting that the Lord can see the bigger picture, we come out more refined and more like Him. Challenges are a great blessing sometimes.

Oh, also because of the Navy base on the Bluff there are all these sweet planes flying around us. We saw one and Elder Roth goes, "What’s that thing in Call of Duty MW2 that flies around?" and I was like: "AC130?" y el me dijo"no" y entonces le djie"UAV?" y el me dijo "si" haha [from Google Translate: and he said, "no" and then I said "UAV?" and he said "yes"] So I saw a real life UAV so that was kinda cool, tambien.

All is well though in Flour Bluff the Lord is definitely helping us in His work. Also I was reading this week in D&C 138 and it was talking about the vision that Joseph F Smith saw and it is a super good chapter y’all should read it. I love my mission though it just continues to help me learn and grow into the person the Lord wants me to be. As we seek to do His will we become more like Him in our daily lives.

How's everything at home going? Has baseball started yet? Have a good week everyone!

Que ios les bendigas muchisimo durante este semana y con todos su actividades y con su pansita Andrew!! #ComeBienYMucho [from Google Translate: May God bless them? you? much during the week with all your activities, and pansita Andrew]

Frijoles, Arroz, y Tortillas

Elder Christiansen