April 16, 2014

It's that time of week again!

The weather here is still on the fritz. We had several days in the 60s which were awesome, and then we got up this morning and it was 34 degrees, the radiators weren't working, and there was snow on the ground in some spots. It has to warm up permanently at some point.

So Robert got his call to my Mission? Is he Spanish or English speaking? I'll definitely see him at his first transfer meeting here, beyond that is hard to say how much.

I found out that thanks to these wonderful things called tones in Chinese, there is a difference between how you say old (outdated) and "long ago". Unfortunately, the pronunciation for long ago is the same as for alcohol, so I've been passing out the last of our English class cards that had the old schedule on them and saying "sorry, this is alcoholic" when they ask about the schedule. I'm surprised we haven't had more of the drunk variety coming to our classes.

We had Stake Conference this last weekend, Elder Smith of the 6th quorum of the 70 was the presiding authority. He used to be a senator for Oregon State apparently. He also had a lot of cool stories, and told us that while we shouldn't get our hopes up too soon, he did confirm that there are actually senior couple missionaries serving in Iraq. How would that be for a crazy call?

I don't know what the fastest mile I could run right now currently is, but during our last speedwork yesterday I decided to try a pace for a 6:40 mile, I ran a half and I was on pace to the second. I think I probably could have done a 6:40-6:30, but I stopped after the half because I knew we were going to be playing frisbee today, as well as playing basketball with some of the members, so I didn't want to be very sore. I guess there are some side effects of running so much. Our long run this past saturday took us through West Village and along the Hudson River Park to the Intrepid (aircraft carrier). That ship is really big.

I don't know if I mentioned it or not last week, but one of our recent converts (Xxxxx) got a job. On Wall Street. Most of the ward is working in Chinese restaurants 6 or 7 days a week for 12 hours a day, he manages to find a 40 hour 9-5 on Wall Street. That counts as showing the blessings of keeping the commandments, along with deciding to get an education/use the employment services that the church provides.

Spiritual thought of the week comes from President Buckner who compared the gospel with economics. In economics, there is this constant view of Win-lose, but there are also instances of Win-win, when both parties get more out of the deal than if they had produced something on their own, wealth is created. Sharing the gospel is this kind of situation, we often think about "is now the right time to make the "pitch" for them to "buy" the gospel, but the fact is that we aren't trying to trick them into a deal where we will win and they lose something. Both parties win.

I need to get going soon, we're going for the annual spring trip to Central Park Frisbee and Chipotle today.

Love, Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

陳少駒