I got permission from president to do the Skype on the 19th, so you can expect me to call sometime then. I'll get it all figured out some time this week and let you know next Wednesday what time.
We (well, Elder Murray actually) found a new investigator for us on the street who is pretty much as golden as you can get. I don't know if I told you about her yet, her name is Gem (I might have introduced her as Jen before) she started studying Christianity in China, she's been in the USA for 3 years, has no respect for people who go to church to "go to church", only if you're there for the sake of learning something, and then using it. She's read most of 1st Nephi already, and she really likes it, she feels peace when she reads it, and she started taking lessons out and applying them in her life without us even needing to tell her to. She's also really familiar with at least the book of Genesis and the 4 gospels of the New Testament, and she knew the story of Daniel in the lion's den, so I'm guessing she's probably read the full bible before. We're teaching her about the restoration on Saturday, and once she has a testimony of that, she's so solid that we can't really see anything else from potentially holding her back. Her date is scheduled for June 23rd.
Lin [xxx] [xxxx] is getting close to the drop point sadly, he isn't very receptive, he doesn't want more of the BoM on his MP3 player, and doesn't listen to what he has or pray very often. We've been trying to schedule some lessons, but he's been sick, so we haven't actually met him since April 16th.
[xxxxx] actually came to church 2 weeks ago, which was awesome!, but he couldn't come this last Sunday because his uncle died, and he had to go to the viewing. He said he felt the spirit though during our lesson, which was really good.
We've been trying to stay in contact with Li [xxxxx], but she's been super busy with school still, she might be coming to church though on Mother's Day, which would be perfect for her.
Liang [xxxxxx] dropped us, she saw one of the sisters paying her tithing, and saw how much money went in. What she didn't realize was that that sister was paying 4 months of tithing instead of 1. She felt she couldn't keep a commitment like that. I guess this counts as a sobering reminder to always do your tithes in secret, because there might be some negative repercussions, not just the lack of blessings from doing them openly.
We're revamping the English class program, so it's a lot more interactive, and a lot more of getting the students to converse, not read or take notes (which if you know anything about Chinese people, is like asking them to hug a cactus.) It's really fun though, and I'm finally starting to learn the names of the people who I've been standing in front of for the last 2 months.
The Golden Pancake [restaurant] was so so. When we come back here some day 20+ months in the future, I'll take you to some places that have a lot better food, and maybe to some that also have some not so good food. PS, they aren't playing checkers, most of them are playing Mahjong. It's the Chinese form of poker.
The story about Dad [coming out of anesthesia] is quite funny, I hope you videotaped some of it. Also, props to Robin on passing your test on the first time. You are officially a better driver than I was at that point, and probably will be when I come home as well, seeing as I very possibly won't have driven a car in 2 years.
I think that Chinatown really picks up during the summer, and gets really slow during the winter, because so fewer people are willing to talk on the streets during the winter. Too cold. That's what all the missionaries have been saying at least. Since I've been here, we've had 2 baptisms, and we have another on this Sunday. I actually think though that part of the slowing down is because we had a ton of baptisms, but so many of them went inactive shortly afterwards, that now we are working a lot harder on retention, and so we aren't spending quite as much time on finding new investigators.
Love you all, Don't die before I talk to you,
Elder Christensen
Thursday, May 23, 2013
May 1, 2013
I still haven't gotten the chance to go get the cheesecake, but I haven't spent the money, so I'll do it at some point.
We've gone outside once thus far for exercise, but I feel like getting ready to go out takes up too much of what little time we have, and I just went running anyway. We've apparently actually tried contacting people by joining in the Tai Chi groups, but they all are so focused that absolutely none of them ever answer. Oh well. I think you can probably leave the bands at home too.
I haven't had the chance to email president yet (I'm doing that today), so I don't have authority to change it, which makes the 5th not an option. However, the 19th is Stake Conference, which is held at the 65th street chapel (the temple) which happens to be on the same street as the Buckner's apartment. If you could get in touch with them to see if they're willing to do that (and get me their address, otherwise I'd have to make sure I saw them at the conference), then I think we can do it on Robin's birthday instead, President Morgan approving. (for the record, a number of people have now stated that Dad looks a lot like President Morgan upon seeing my family photos.)
When you go to HCP this summer, look for a number of Chinese people on Thursday-Closing night. They're my ward. Also, I'm telling the Blairs (senior couple in CT) to try and make contact with you there.
I went to Tasty Dumpling, wasn't bad, still haven't gone to the ice cream place yet. I don't think Ethan will be accustomed to all spicy-ness. I have determined that Asians who can do super hot Asian dishes can't take Mexican that I can to an extent. In essence, you become accustomed to that type of spicy, but other types of spicy are still really hard. Unless his is a blend of all forms, he won't be able to to everything.
I realized something interesting. I don't like getting recognized by members outside of Chinatown. I think it's because typically I only leave CT for P-day, and so we don't have a bunch of time to talk to the people, because we left CT in the first place to buy something.
I got my birthday Chop (the stamp with my Chinese name), but I don't have an ink pad, so that's on the list to buy next week. I also have remembered my Hep A shot, and am going up to the Bronx tomorrow to get the second one (that's where the approved place is for missionaries for some reason.) Got to go to the temple today for an English session as well, which was really good.
Henry came to church on sunday, which was really good (he hasn't come for the last 8 weeks or so. The whole time I've been here.) He also got to listen to my sacrament talk, which was supremely strange when I would pause and hear elder Mok off to the side translating to English.
The Zone conference was all of Manhattan, and it was on March 25th if memory serves. The one with the Orange in her mouth is sister Woo.
My Chinese is still coming along, I'm slowly starting to be able to understand natives more, although phone calls are still horrible. Elder Murray does speak English to me a fair amount, but he still SYLs a lot more than Elder Williams did.
We found a contact named Jen on the street last week, Elder Murray made contact, but had to switch her over to Elder Mok when she started asking about stuff in the Bible. Mok got her number, committed her to read the BoM in 2 weeks. 2 days later she had already read 30 pages, and was saying that she really liked it, it seemed a lot like the Bible, and she felt peace when she read it. Power of the BoM right there. We have a lesson with her on Saturday, really hoping she works out, she's pretty golden at the moment.
Love you all,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen
We've gone outside once thus far for exercise, but I feel like getting ready to go out takes up too much of what little time we have, and I just went running anyway. We've apparently actually tried contacting people by joining in the Tai Chi groups, but they all are so focused that absolutely none of them ever answer. Oh well. I think you can probably leave the bands at home too.
I haven't had the chance to email president yet (I'm doing that today), so I don't have authority to change it, which makes the 5th not an option. However, the 19th is Stake Conference, which is held at the 65th street chapel (the temple) which happens to be on the same street as the Buckner's apartment. If you could get in touch with them to see if they're willing to do that (and get me their address, otherwise I'd have to make sure I saw them at the conference), then I think we can do it on Robin's birthday instead, President Morgan approving. (for the record, a number of people have now stated that Dad looks a lot like President Morgan upon seeing my family photos.)
When you go to HCP this summer, look for a number of Chinese people on Thursday-Closing night. They're my ward. Also, I'm telling the Blairs (senior couple in CT) to try and make contact with you there.
I went to Tasty Dumpling, wasn't bad, still haven't gone to the ice cream place yet. I don't think Ethan will be accustomed to all spicy-ness. I have determined that Asians who can do super hot Asian dishes can't take Mexican that I can to an extent. In essence, you become accustomed to that type of spicy, but other types of spicy are still really hard. Unless his is a blend of all forms, he won't be able to to everything.
I realized something interesting. I don't like getting recognized by members outside of Chinatown. I think it's because typically I only leave CT for P-day, and so we don't have a bunch of time to talk to the people, because we left CT in the first place to buy something.
I got my birthday Chop (the stamp with my Chinese name), but I don't have an ink pad, so that's on the list to buy next week. I also have remembered my Hep A shot, and am going up to the Bronx tomorrow to get the second one (that's where the approved place is for missionaries for some reason.) Got to go to the temple today for an English session as well, which was really good.
Henry came to church on sunday, which was really good (he hasn't come for the last 8 weeks or so. The whole time I've been here.) He also got to listen to my sacrament talk, which was supremely strange when I would pause and hear elder Mok off to the side translating to English.
The Zone conference was all of Manhattan, and it was on March 25th if memory serves. The one with the Orange in her mouth is sister Woo.
My Chinese is still coming along, I'm slowly starting to be able to understand natives more, although phone calls are still horrible. Elder Murray does speak English to me a fair amount, but he still SYLs a lot more than Elder Williams did.
We found a contact named Jen on the street last week, Elder Murray made contact, but had to switch her over to Elder Mok when she started asking about stuff in the Bible. Mok got her number, committed her to read the BoM in 2 weeks. 2 days later she had already read 30 pages, and was saying that she really liked it, it seemed a lot like the Bible, and she felt peace when she read it. Power of the BoM right there. We have a lesson with her on Saturday, really hoping she works out, she's pretty golden at the moment.
Love you all,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen
April 24, 2013
The crazy man I told you about is [xxxx], he thinks that his hand is his cell phone, and will talk on it as such, despite the fact that he told us that his phone is broken. He also answers it very abruptly, which makes me think he believes he can feel it ringing, despite the fact that it is actually just his hand.
Thank you for the birthday package, the mustaches are a nice touch. I considered sending home the Ipod until I found out is has HCP on it, now I'm conflicted on if I should or not. We were going to go eat at Pelligrinos (I think that's how you spell it) for my birthday with the Blairs, but Sister Blair got sick, so we're going to go out to lunch with them some time this week instead.
I think mine is probably going by faster because I'm still in the first 6 months, and Ethan is in the last 8-9. It's the difference between the count down and just starting I think. Also the fact that aside from when I'll get sent upstate for a few months, we know that I'm going to be doing much the same stuff every week for the entirety of my mission, the only variation will be in who I'm teaching and who I'm companions with.
Sister Shu took some of the Elders to MaLaTan (Sichuan restaurant) this last week. She's an old Cantonese member. Great lady, and the food did a number on my stomach. Chinese spicy and Mexican spicy are 2 different things. Mexican is on your lips and tongue, Chinese is all in your throat and sinuses.
When we did the big going away party for sister Chueh, Huang Kai (1st counselor in bishopbric) brought a lot of food to the Chapel and all the missionaries had a big dinner together. Duck was present, and duck was delicious. Actually, almost every store that sells meat has ducks hanging in the windows like that mom, and most of them seem pretty decent places to eat. The one you don't want to trust is called CNO on Chrystie street. There WILL be bones in your dumplings if you go there.
Tell Robin congrats, and also that her "annoying" card wasn't so annoying, seeing as the sound part was broken, so I never heard what song it was supposed to play. I should hope that she passed the first time, if she got in that much more driving time than me.
Speaking of driving, I've decided that when I get back- since we will have to go to pageant early, and you and dad have to be in meetings, I want to see if it is possible to steal the car for a couple days and take the kids down to Chinatown for a day or 2. That would be just about the coolest thing ever to go back and visit with some/all of the family.
The current biggest change in the companionship since elder Murray came is contacting. We typically do at least a few hours a day. The best description I've heard of it thus far is that we are basically begging people to listen to our message, just in a more dignified manner. Hurray for humbling experiences as a missionary. Speaking of contacting, I got my first number (with elder Foley's help on translation.) The most effective method for Christians is to ask them to share their feelings on Christ, that usually gets them to stop walking. Most of them just blow us off. If they're buddhist, then we tell them that the gospel can help them and try to show them how. My favorite is when we start by asking them what their names are and they say that they don't remember/don't have one. Sometimes [one of the Elders] gets mad at them all and just starts quoting scriptures about going to hell under his breath as they walk away.
Elders Mok, Foley, Blonquist, and Cook all went to the temple this last week to help read the names for temple work. It seems that here they just use the Chinese speaking missionaries to read the pinyin for the names.
We're hoping to go to Central Park today for a picnic and frisbee for a little while. I'll make sure to take some pictures for you. The weather here has been pretty much fantastic, we've only had 1 day of rain, and we only got caught in it for about 5 minutes (You'll enjoy the pictures of how wet we got on that, Blonquist and Cook had to make it from the Chapel to East Broadway in that, and they looked like they just got out of the swimming pool.)
Liang [xxxx] dropped us this monday. She said she wanted to find out for herself if it is true or not, not through meeting with the missionaries. All we can do at this point really is pray for her, and hope that she gets an answer.
Spiritual thought of the letter: The only constant in life is change. That means that the nature of the Gospel itself is change. Taking what you were before, what you want, think, and feel, and changing it all to become something better, something more in tune with what god wants of and for you.
Love you all, your relative in service,
Elder Christensen (PS, operation find out how to make my pants less tight is now in effect.)
Thank you for the birthday package, the mustaches are a nice touch. I considered sending home the Ipod until I found out is has HCP on it, now I'm conflicted on if I should or not. We were going to go eat at Pelligrinos (I think that's how you spell it) for my birthday with the Blairs, but Sister Blair got sick, so we're going to go out to lunch with them some time this week instead.
I think mine is probably going by faster because I'm still in the first 6 months, and Ethan is in the last 8-9. It's the difference between the count down and just starting I think. Also the fact that aside from when I'll get sent upstate for a few months, we know that I'm going to be doing much the same stuff every week for the entirety of my mission, the only variation will be in who I'm teaching and who I'm companions with.
Sister Shu took some of the Elders to MaLaTan (Sichuan restaurant) this last week. She's an old Cantonese member. Great lady, and the food did a number on my stomach. Chinese spicy and Mexican spicy are 2 different things. Mexican is on your lips and tongue, Chinese is all in your throat and sinuses.
When we did the big going away party for sister Chueh, Huang Kai (1st counselor in bishopbric) brought a lot of food to the Chapel and all the missionaries had a big dinner together. Duck was present, and duck was delicious. Actually, almost every store that sells meat has ducks hanging in the windows like that mom, and most of them seem pretty decent places to eat. The one you don't want to trust is called CNO on Chrystie street. There WILL be bones in your dumplings if you go there.
Tell Robin congrats, and also that her "annoying" card wasn't so annoying, seeing as the sound part was broken, so I never heard what song it was supposed to play. I should hope that she passed the first time, if she got in that much more driving time than me.
Speaking of driving, I've decided that when I get back- since we will have to go to pageant early, and you and dad have to be in meetings, I want to see if it is possible to steal the car for a couple days and take the kids down to Chinatown for a day or 2. That would be just about the coolest thing ever to go back and visit with some/all of the family.
The current biggest change in the companionship since elder Murray came is contacting. We typically do at least a few hours a day. The best description I've heard of it thus far is that we are basically begging people to listen to our message, just in a more dignified manner. Hurray for humbling experiences as a missionary. Speaking of contacting, I got my first number (with elder Foley's help on translation.) The most effective method for Christians is to ask them to share their feelings on Christ, that usually gets them to stop walking. Most of them just blow us off. If they're buddhist, then we tell them that the gospel can help them and try to show them how. My favorite is when we start by asking them what their names are and they say that they don't remember/don't have one. Sometimes [one of the Elders] gets mad at them all and just starts quoting scriptures about going to hell under his breath as they walk away.
Elders Mok, Foley, Blonquist, and Cook all went to the temple this last week to help read the names for temple work. It seems that here they just use the Chinese speaking missionaries to read the pinyin for the names.
We're hoping to go to Central Park today for a picnic and frisbee for a little while. I'll make sure to take some pictures for you. The weather here has been pretty much fantastic, we've only had 1 day of rain, and we only got caught in it for about 5 minutes (You'll enjoy the pictures of how wet we got on that, Blonquist and Cook had to make it from the Chapel to East Broadway in that, and they looked like they just got out of the swimming pool.)
Liang [xxxx] dropped us this monday. She said she wanted to find out for herself if it is true or not, not through meeting with the missionaries. All we can do at this point really is pray for her, and hope that she gets an answer.
Spiritual thought of the letter: The only constant in life is change. That means that the nature of the Gospel itself is change. Taking what you were before, what you want, think, and feel, and changing it all to become something better, something more in tune with what god wants of and for you.
Love you all, your relative in service,
Elder Christensen (PS, operation find out how to make my pants less tight is now in effect.)
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