January 8, 2014

You should get Ethan to continue his weekly letter, seeing as he isn't at home. I think I'll probably keep the weekly email up when I go to BYU again.

The library has wifi, so we use our iPads there, or else at the chapel or at the Blair's, since they have Wifi. [In response to a question about how and where he accesses the internet for their online missionary efforts.]

I don't know if I ever clarified, I [am in] this area (area 2) with Elder Leung. It used to be a sister's area. My old area was area 6, which was created by splitting area 1 in half when I first got into the field, and areas 1 and 6 were recombined into just area 1 when I left Chinatown. In other words Mom, area 1 is the area currently working with Xxxx, so while I talk with her a bit at church every week, I don't teach her at all, and I don't know how her husband is doing. He hasn't come to church since I came back, but that could just mean that he is working on Sunday. I don't know currently. I'll ask and let you know next week. Speaking of area 1, I'm going on a split with them on Saturday. Guess who we're going to be teaching? I'll give you a hint, he's a ## year old xxxx Chinese man. Even better, we're planning on giving him a baptismal date for February. I have no clue what happened between the time [when he] dropped us back in June and now, but apparently he did some serious humbling. Hoping it's going to be an awesome day. Proof right there that sometimes it takes people a couple of rounds with the gospel before they get it, but that hope is never fully lost for anyone, no matter how many times they might slam the door.

Weather. It's gone mad. We were between 5 and 9 degrees all day yesterday, but with windchill, the warmest it felt was -9, and when we first got to the church it said it was a windchill of -20. Clear blue skies (as blue as they can get in the city), but absolutely ridiculously cold. We only contacted for an hour and a half over the course of the day, some companionships got in 2 hours, but I don't think anyone was longer than that. We weren't even trying to get them to stop and talk, we just passed out free English class cards outside our building. We've given out over 300 since Saturday, and our English class on Monday was already about 10 people larger than normal, so we'll see. We might be getting our English class to finally be a way to find investigators as well as service, which would be nice.

Freezing cold in NYC: Elder Christensen is on the far right, Elder Leung is next to him

Did I ever mention that for reasons I can't explain, my hat continuously slides down the front of my face, to the point where every 20 minutes or so I need to pull it back up, or else give up my ability to see. Also, if Elder Leung looks like he is probably cold, that would be an understatement, he has no thermals or underarmor, he's trying to be 'cool' and survive the winter wearing regular slacks with a jacket or two on top. I offered him some [thermals], since I still haven't opened all the ones you sent me earlier, Mom, but he won't take them.

Also, random notes, I broke a shoelace as I was putting my shoes on after Skyping at the Buckners, and second, the beef jerky is delicious. If you could send some in the next package that you send out, that would be greatly appreciated by Elder Leung and I.

It has been kind of funny to watch and realize that Chinese people don't get the whole "New Years resolutions" thing. They are fine with setting goals, but doing so at a specific time doesn't make any sense to them. I decided to set one though. Seeing as tonight is the year mark of my being set apart as an Elder, and tomorrow is the year mark for going to the MTC, I figure it's probably about time to start trying to read to whole Book of Mormon in Chinese. My goal is to finish it before I come home. Seeing as the Chinese edition is 636 pages, I'll need to read a bit more than a page and a half a day, which means looking up a LOT of characters I don't know.

Mom, I like your thoughts about "wants" versus "needs" purchases, I've definitely learned a bit about that on my mission (some Elders upstate would be out of money by the 10th of the month, and money doesn't come in for next month until the 27th, so they were having to dip into their personal funds a lot).

Happy anniversary,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

陳少駒

December 22, 2013

Dear Mom, I got your package. I see that the golden rule got thrown out the window when it comes to candy. After this next package, I think if you try to send me any more sweets, I'm going to take a video of me throwing it away in a trash can on the street so some hobo can eat it later.

Church was excellent, I still understood about the same percentage of the meeting as I would have before going upstate, which was a nice comfort for me. My Chinese hasn't degraded that much, although I can definitely tell that it did a bit. My reading got a lot better though. We had a nice 1.5 hour sacrament meeting that had a lot of musical numbers (I think elder Murray got to play the piano 6 times, and he didn't even play for any of the congregational hymns). We had a YSA [Young Single Adult] activity at the chapel after the block which was really fun, and then we went to a triple baptism at the 15th street chapel. One of them was a 17 year old who is in our area, but since we were working away from Chinatown she didn't really feel like our baptism, even if we were the ones who got to count it in our planners. She's really cool though, and we are going to be the ones teaching her the post baptism new member lessons. We will be working with her a lot. Oh, and Xxxx's reaction when she saw me was the funniest thing ever, I think it was the first time I've ever seen someone stagger with shock. Don't worry, I didn't laugh at her at all, I just had a really big smile while I walked over to shake her hand.

The weather was epic this last 2 weeks. We had over a foot of snow between my last Saturday and Tuesday upstate, and then I come back to the city, and it felt almost like no time has passed since I left! The weather yesterday felt pretty much the same as what it was in August. We were going to get up early today as a Zone and go play frisbee like we did during the summer, but it was raining pretty hard, so we had to cancel it. It is still pretty warm outside, even if it is still raining. I believe it is supposed to cool down a lot though before Ethan gets here.

Fun fact, if you fry eggs using vegetable oil and not spray, don't just poor the used oil over your toast, the consequences in your intestines are not worth it.

Mom, I've told you at least 6 times now, I never lost my coat. I don't know where you got that idea. Stop asking, I'm fine.

My companion says thanks for the [Christmas] stocking Mom. He'll probably tell you in person on Sunday. His name is Leung. It's pronounced like lung, but with a little bit of an accent that has been impossible for me to get right. He's from Hong Kong. His Mandarin isn't native level, but it's really good. Cantonese is his first language. He went to Dixie State for 2 years before starting his mission, so his English is pretty good too.

For Christmas, Bishop McConkie is having all the missionaries in Chinatown over for dinner. Other than that, I'm not sure what will happen. He's moving to North Carolina in January, so we should be finding out who the new Bishop is soon.

Not much else to say, so I'll save the rest for Sunday. I'll be using the same Skype account you set up for me probably. See you all then!

Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

陳少駒

December 18, 2013

Sorry, transfer meeting took forever. [Writing later in the day than normal.]

I am back in Chinatown! I'm with Elder Leung. He's from Hong Kong, really cool, and we are in an apartment with only the 2 of us. That is a first in my mission, but since there are 2 more Elders, 6 sisters, and a senior couple that all live in our building as well, it shouldn't feel too lonely.

I'm planning on Emailing next Monday, not Wednesday, just an update. Our p-day [Preparation Day] got moved around. Also, I'm going to try and Skype around 3 maybe (your time), on the 29th. Were you aware of the Buckners planning on having me over for Skyping and/or Christmas Day/Christmas Eve, or should I text/call them?

Oh, it snowed all day Saturday and Tuesday pretty much. We were banned from using cars those days. We got 8 to 10 inches the first time and 3-5 the second time. It was ridiculous. A lot of shoveling and a lot of time spent sitting inside packing.

We got to finally teach a lesson to the investigator I've been writing about the day before I left. It took 2 hours, but she is finally willing to continue meeting with the missionaries again. Getting her back to church will take a while I'm sure, but I'm looking forward to seeing her get baptized one day, she's awesome.

By the way, I never got your package Mom, unless the office is holding it until Christmas. But they would only do that if you told them to.

Love you all, I'm super sorry that this is the second week in a row I have to send a super short letter, It will be a lot longer next week I'm sure.

Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

December 11, 2013

Mostly, I just want to see Ethan so that I can get a picture of the 2 of us as set apart missionaries at the same time. I'm virtually 100% certain that I'm going to be in Chinatown at that time, not that I spoke to president about it while they were rehearsing for the Christmas devotional at our chapel or anything. Also, Ethan is convinced that his flight will be delayed due to poor weather, in which case, it might be good if he had the Buckners number, if improvisation becomes necessary. Just a thought.

We have good news! An investigator we lost recently is now kind of back in the picture. She apparently noticed how much her life had changed when she reverted to how she was before we met her, and she really didn't like going back to who she was, she asked us if we could start meeting again. We haven't been able to set a time yet, but we are hopeful.

The Christmas devotional was awesome. There were a million missionaries, and yes Mom, I did get to hang out with all of my Chinatown friends. Actually, we went down to Chinatown today as well, because Elder Hernandez wanted to go to the city for some reason, so we stopped by there, along with Macy's and the Rockefeller. I felt so at home in Chinatown.

Winter is officially here. There is snow on the ground, it was coming down pretty much all day yesterday. My car was completely frozen over Monday morning. I mean it was literally an 8th of an inch thick sheet of ice covering the entire car. I got to punch a hole in the ice on my window after I rolled it down, because the ice just sat there. (And then all fell in on my lap once I punched it.)

My district leader dies this Sunday. He flies home on Monday back to Blackfoot Idaho. He doesn't even get to stay for the transfer meeting, because the planes are crazy around Christmas time. There's a decent chance that that will be me next year sadly. More than 11 months in now. It's going fast.

We met a less-active member who got chronic Lyme's disease, Parkinson's disease, and bi-polar disorder all from a tick bite back in 2009. DONT GET BIT BY TICKS.

I am getting tired of back-to-back meal appointments here. I should have tried to get sent upstate at a time other than the holidays. All they do is make you feel gross, and you can't turn them down, otherwise they think you're telling them their food is no good.

Love, your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

陳少駒

December 3, 2013

Thanksgiving was messed up. I don't know why, but for some reason everyone calls at the last minute to ask the missionaries to their Thanksgiving dinner, and your companion who is answering the phone thinks its funny not to tell them that you have already eaten. So they are all expecting you to pig out, and get offended if you don't. 20 hours, 5 dinners, 6 pounds, and almost sick to the stomach later (yes, I weighed myself before the first and after the last one). I was a very full missionary, and our fridge had enough leftover pi to satisfy a math team. There's still a fair amount left.

We were recently asked to stop having any mail send to places other than the mission office, due to the fact that some Elders have been waiting for packages to get sent by the Elders in their previous apartments to the new place where they live for some time. So, just send the Christmas package to the office, and anything that is unnecessary or unwanted can stay behind. Really, feel free to send it whenever, the office will be making deliveries of mail twice a week now, so delay from the mission office won't be very bad. Oh, I got your two packages. The tree is now set up on our mantle.

The weather got a little better this week, still pretty cold though. We've been doing a lot of lookups of less active members. We helped a member string up Christmas lights and set up his yard decorations too. I had to dry clean my pants after that, we didn't have time to change before going over there to help him.

Our mission's Christmas devotional is this Friday at my chapel. All the missionaries are going to get together to have lunch and such. Looking forward to seeing all my Chinatown buddies again.

We visited the headquarters for Pepsi today, our ward mission leader works there. Interesting place. Very competitive. You aren't allowed to say Coke there, they call it the Red System.

I got permission from the Mission President to Skype a few days after Christmas, once Ethan gets home, so that is all settled. I also got permission from him to have Ethan visit me in Chinatown, but he said it is a serious risk on Ethan's part, considering traffic around JFK during the holidays. Ask the Buckners how long they think it would take him, he lands at 1:05 and leaves at 7:30 on the 26th. He also said that Ethan would need permission from his mission president, if he won't have been released at that point.

Love you all,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

陳少駒

November 20, 2013

[This letter opened with responses to questions about his white shirt and suit needs.]

We have iPads now. It's super trippy. We were mission 9 in the world to get iPads, and there are only about 20 who are currently authorized for online proselyting. Not all of the iPad missions have Online capabilities, so we're pretty early as far as getting both.

[Our investigator] Xxxx leaves for China tomorrow. He'll be back here in April, so hopefully he'll keep progressing at that point.

Missionary story. We agreed with one of our investigators that if she would give up smoking, we would give up something too. Elder Hernandez said he would give up chewing on his nails. I was...volunteered to give up cracking my knuckles, knees, elbows, ankles, back, and all the other things in my body that snap. Trying to not do that for the last week has been pretty much impossible. I decided that for the moment, I'm going to focus on my back, because I know that is the one that is probably the worst for me, and also the easiest one to notice when I do it.

We have a Mission Christmas Party here on the 6th of December. We're actually holding it at my chapel, so I won't have to travel hardly at all, although I might get drafted to help transport missionaries from other areas here. As for the package, you can send it to the mission office, if I'm back down there, I'll get it before Christmas, and if I'm getting transferred, I'll keep what I want and leave all the sugary sweets you send behind with the other elders. If I don't get transferred, then I will still get it before Christmas. I think the odds of me not getting transferred are very low, but President Morgan has proven over the last year that he loves to keep EVERYONE in suspense.

Love you,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen

November 13, 2013

Transfer Results are in. I'm staying in Peekskill. That said, if I don't leave next transfer (Dec. 18th), then I'm going to wind up outside of Chinatown for as long as I was IN Chinatown, so I'm pretty confident that I'll be back down there for the Holidays. I'm still with Elder Hernandez too. In fact, during the 3 transfers it's looking like I'm likely to be here for, the only change my entire district will have is when Elder Wang left and Elder Hernandez came in. The other 3 companionships have been the same 2 elders the entire time I've been here. Elder Blonquist came upstate this cycle too, took him long enough. I was in Chinatown for 4 cycles, he was there for 11.

We received confirmation. Ipads and Iphones will be passed out to our missionaries on Friday. How's that for different from Ethan mission wise? He's in Africa, and I'll be Facebooking on an Ipad.

I ate at a Pub for the first time yesterday. The Quiet Man is a little Irish Pub (on Division Street in Peekskill) that one of our members took us to. First time ever eating Pork Schnitzel, it was amazing. I'm also learning that outside of Chinatown, one should just expect to have a desert after the main meal. (Thank you for not doing that to us growing up Mom. I'm sure I'd be very fat if I grew up like that).

In other news, one of our investigators accepted a baptism date for Dec. 21st (right after I leave...). She's really cool, her parents are determined not to let her raise her son (age 7) as anything other than Catholic though, so she's still working on figuring that part out.

Our ward, rather to my surprise I found out, doesn't do a Christmas party/meal/thing. Instead, they do a GIGANTIC Thanksgiving feast. The rough description I've heard is about 250 people with enough food to feed probably around 600, in a ward that only has about 200 members that come every week. That's a week from this Saturday, and we've been told it is awesome for getting less-active members and friends of members to come to the Chapel. Should be fun.

I got to discuss human cloning with an investigator for the first time this last week too. He's a really smart kid (15). Bro. Erickson, the member we brought along with us, had a great analogy on the topic. "Human cloning is like when we take an acorn from an Oak tree, and plant it in the ground. We didn't actually make the seed, or the tree that will grow from it, or anything. God did, he just let us plant it."

Winter is officially right around the corner here. We had snow in the morning a few days ago, and it's been "suit coat with a sweater on underneath and my coat on above" kind of weather. Which of course means that it's time for the battery in our car to die, and once we jump it the electronics in the car are all messed up. ex: the heater. The AC works fine though oddly enough. Actually, all the electronics are completely fine except for the heater, which is just lame.

I had an investigator offer to set me and my companion up on dates with her 18 year old daughter when she comes back from college next week. Awkward.

We have a new missionary here, Sister Jensen, who went to Davis [High School], she was in several of my seminary classes, I've known her since about 8th grade. She is being trained in South Manhattan, so I didn't see her at the transfer meeting, but when they announced the name I spent about 3 seconds going "I know that name..."

Life is good, pubs have really good food,
Your son/sibling in service,
Elder Christensen