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

Ethan's Conversion ... to Salad!

We got Ethan's letter on Tuesday this week due to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (the libraries were closed for the holiday, and that's usually where they go to use the computers and check their email). Ethan's letter was full of news and colorful updates...including a big reveal about his new eating personality. Ethan has always had a fairly limited palette (read: picky eater), and to hear him rave about salad...well, that is beautiful music to this vegetarian mama's ears! :)

January 21

Querido familia,

I forgot my camera cord again so no pictures this week :( This week was good, we had interviews with Presidente Maluenda and they were super good! He is amazing!

So, we were biking towards the top of our area near the Naval Base, and we bike by these guys sitting on their lawn, all with these guns and I thought they were paintball ones and we go by and I hear one laugh then I hear this pop and one of the pellets (it was actually a pellet gun) hits the trees right behind me. So I turned around and gave them the death stare hard and they were just laughing super hard, which in turn made me laugh so no harm done – haha, it was pretty funny.

Also, this is something that will absolutely blow y’alls minds...I like salad. I know, try to control yourselves, but we ate at a member’s house and the salad was so good, man I could have just eaten salad. Then, the next day we were eating at another member's house and during the whole meal I was like, "Man I could use a salad right now." So yea, I’m converted, after 19 years – haha!

So because of the huge Naval Base on Flour Bluff, pretty much anyone you meet has something to do with the military, so that's cool. And it's a training base so there are all these planes flying over us all the time. And so one day we were talking to someone outside and this plane flew by and it was way low and soooo freaking loud it was hilarious! Oh, and my bike chain broke this week as well so I had to fix that. Pray for my bike. :) 

That’s cool about Vandy football, too. I’m so lost in sports now; it’s not even funny. Has the Super Bowl happened yet or did I miss it? Also, we emailed today because it was MLK day yesterday, but I have to go I’m almost out of time! I love y’all so much! Oh, and Elder Roth and I are doing great, I love him a ton, he’s hilarious and such a beast.

Con amor!!!!!!!

Elder Christiansen

Ronald Regan in Flour Bluff?

Ethan is having some interesting experiences and meeting lots of people in Flour Bluff. I love his positive attitude in challenging conditions. :)

January 13

Hola familia,

Well, this past week has been good! Not too much has happened, though. It’s a challenging area. We get sworn at or a door slammed on us a few times every day, but it’s all good.

I heard about James Franklin going to Penn St., and about Florida St. winning it all – that’s crazy! Oh, I met someone this week whose name is Ronald Reagan! He was running outside with no shirt on and had so much orange chest hair because he's a ginger.

Also, we were talking to this guy, and he just stops us and goes, '”Y’all, I’m such a sinner...I sin everyday...I sin like it’s my job." We then told him that we all do, and started to share about repentance…and then he stops us again and goes, "No, y’all I sin bad...I haul a** in my truck everyday." And then there was this little pause and it was soooo hard for me not to just start laughing. Oh, and he was covered in blood because he just got done skinning a deer. It was way funny.

But yea, other than that nothing really super exciting has happened. How are y’all? How is school, Andrew, who are your teachers? Dad, what country are you in right now? Hope y’all have a good week!

Cuidense y come mucho andrew!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Christiansen

Ethan's New Area ... from Donna to Flour Bluff

January 6

Hola amigos!

Well I don't have a whole lot of time today but here are some of the big things that have happened in the past few weeks:

1. I got transferred for the first time! That means that I’m in a new area now. I was in good ol' Donna TX but I am now in Flour Bluff! It is a suburb basically of Corpus Christi and my area is the whole bluff part. It is super different than Donna. There is really no Spanish up here so it is weird doing everything in English now because I was so used to Spanish. It is also a ton nicer here than in Donna. It’s all good though I already love it up here!

2. Christmas and New Year's were good as well. We had a ton of food appointments...which is a blessing and a curse at the same time. It was all good though and I got to talk to my family on skype for while so that was good, too!

3. I am still in a bike area so I'm excited about that (I like being on the bike more than in a car – it’s easier to talk to people and it's more fun!).

4. I also met someone from Tennessee this past week and that was a first as well!

5. I ate the absolutely hottest thing i have ever eaten in my entire life on Christmas Eve. We were at a member of the church’s house and there was this little pepper on the table. So I grabbed one, and another missionary grabbed the other and we both ate them...HUGE mistake. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Literally in less than 5 minutes I was sweating like a monster, my nose was running, and there were tears just flying down my cheeks it looked like I had been crying for days. So after drinking tons of water I got to the point of no return and ran outside and threw-up everywhere on the side of his yard. It was insane, I will never EVER do that again. Oh, and he still doesn’t know I threw-up so that's a plus, too.

Sorry this is pretty short but I don’t have much time. My mission is going great though, I love every second of it. At times is extremely hard and you don't really know what to do, but the lessons and principles I have learned so far have helped me to grow and progress and I am so grateful for those opportunities.

The Church is true!!

Les quiero mucho y come bien andrew!

Elder Christiansen 

On the Move ... First Transfer!

December 30, 2013

Monday has quickly become our favorite day of the week as that is the day we get an email from Ethan! For his entire mission thus far, since he's been in Texas, his emails have arrived anywhere between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., so I have that in the back of my mind as I go throughout the day. It's always SO great to hear from him and hear how he's doing! And sometimes receive photos as well. So, today, when we hadn't heard from Ethan by about 2 p.m., that was curious. Then 3 p.m. passed, then 4 p.m. passed...moving a little past "curious" to "concerning" (to this mom, anyway). A little bit after 5 p.m., we finally heard from him! His companion had been pretty sick all day and Ethan was working with the mission office on getting him to the doctor, helping to take care of him, etc., thus the delay. (We hope all is going well!) In his email, Ethan shared the news that he's being transferred -- moving tomorrow, actually. He's going to be living and working in Flour Bluff, Texas, in the Corpus Christi area. It's about three hours from where he's been serving in McAllen since July 15th. He's been in the same area and ward for the past six months, and it will be difficult for him to leave the people he's come to love. This is part of the life of an LDS Missionary. New adventures and experiences await, and new people to love and serve! How fitting for the new year. He said he's really excited that he'll still be in a bike area: "YES -- bike areas are the best, I love them -- and it helps me not blow up from the food, ha-ha!" Lots of great cooks in the Texas McAllen Mission who are so kind to feed the missionaries!

Here's a map of where Elder Christiansen will be living and working now -- Flour Bluff is just south of the Naval Station:

http://www.cctexas.com/Assets/Visitors/Files/VisitorsMap.pdf

Here's Ethan's letter, December 30, 2013 -- he's referring to our Christmas skype call (so awesome!); a visit after Christmas from our dear friends, the Biens, from West Lafayette; and the MIT: Mormon Invitational Tournament (basketball), that Andrew played in over the holidays:

December 30, 2013

Hey y’all!

Yea it was super awesome talking to y’all too! Sorry I'm on so late; Elder Merica has been super sick so I've been talking to Sister Maluenda all day getting him to the doctor and stuff. Also I got the call on Sunday morning and I am getting transferred up to Corpus Christi! I can't believe it. I've been about 10 minutes away from Mexico for six months, and now I’m going to almost the top of the mission! It was sad saying goodbye to all the members I have gotten close to, but it's just a part of the mission. My new area is called Flour Bluff and I heard it's on an island, but that might not be true. I have no idea. I’m excited though! Other than that nothing really too big has happened this week. We don't have a lot of time to email today. On New Year’s Eve we all come in at 6 p.m. and we are going to be watching either Mulan or Finding Nemo, so I’m way excited for that! Oh, and I saw that play at a pizza place were Auburn beat Alabama on the field goal attempt…what!?!...I couldn't believe what I was seeing, that was crazy! But it's all good. That's cool about the frijoles (ha-ha that's beans in Spanish and I’m talking about the Biens). That's cool about the MIT, too. I love you guys so much family!

Cuidense,

Elder Christiansen

Christmas Skype!

December 25, 2013

At 5:00 p.m. today, we were getting a very exciting Christmas gift -- our skype call with Elder Christiansen! Doug, Andrew and I had a wonderful day together and we all were so looking forward to 5 o'clock!

We tested the computer connection, skyped from our computers in different rooms, and set up the iPad to record the Skype. We tested where to sit so Ethan would be able to see all three of us, and we would be able to see him -- arranging chairs so we could fit in the height and width of the computer screen and still be able to record. Quite the logistical and technological situation!

We were "go for launch" at 4:30 p.m. and counting down. Elder Christiansen was going to be skyping from a church member's home. We had so many questions we wanted to ask him, and we were so looking forward to "seeing" him!

The ring, the connection, and there he was! We could see his face, sort of back-lit by a lamp in the room; he was skyping from the basement weight room, and we had 45 minutes to visit. There were three missionaries after Ethan waiting to use the computer to skype with their families, too.

After we got the lighting figured out on his end, we could see his face. He looked great!!!

Here are a few highlights from the conversation:

• Good news -- Ethan hasn't been really homesick: "I've been too busy!" 
• He loves riding his bike every day, and kicks off his morning with 75 push-ups.
• The night before, at Christmas Eve dinner at the Bishop's house, he ate a tiny but powerfully hot pepper and within seconds he was sweating, crying, nose running, gasping, and gulping down water! The only relief came from rushing outside and throwing up in the yard. Good times, I'm sure! (This was actually the first thing he told us while we were trying to get the light adjusted so we could see him. Hilarious!)
• He loves the wonderful Mexican food, even likes salad now, and also was glad he hadn't been served soup that's made from the face and intestines of a cow.
• He absolutely loves the people he's met -- so warm and friendly.
• He's learned the importance of setting goals to help get things accomplished. Wonderful!
• He loves his mission president, Presidente Maluenda, and appreciates that he always tells the missionaries to enjoy every moment of their missions.
• Playing basketball is his favorite activity after all the chores are done on "P-day" (preparation day -- grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning the apartment, etc. -- oh, and writing to family and friends). :)
• He is so thankful and happy to be serving a mission, and recommends everyone read something out of the Book of Mormon every day -- "I'm blown away by how much power that book has."
• He is thankful for the many friends who have written to him!
• He ended our call by sharing his feelings about Jesus Christ, and his testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ -- all in Spanish. It was beautiful! We couldn't understand a thing, but could feel his spirit and sincerity. It was lovely. 

Favorite Christmas gift for our whole family! I haven't gone back to watch the recording yet -- giving the actual conversation time to wander around in my memory first. I'll watch it sometime between now and Mother's Day, when we get to skype again. Can't wait!! :)