愛達荷 - Ài dá hé - (Idaho)

my MTC district

 I am in Idaho! I am currently serving in the Idaho Falls area, which is a very populated area. We only cover three wards and it is pretty condensed. It really actually reminds me a lot of Salt Lake in some ways. The wards are pretty cool, but they don't seem super excited about missionary work. And a lot of the missionaries are kinda wild and don't really follow many rules. My companion is elder Abbott and he is pretty good about that and he is a great missionary. He has been here for 20 months so he is getting close to going home. We are whitewashing this area which means we are both new to it. When we showed up we had very few records and most of those were super outdated. The apartment smelled bad and had a ton of trash in it. But once we cleaned it it is actually pretty nice. No dishwasher but that is about it. We are pretty blessed! 

It has been very warm during the days and we had to wear suits the last 2 so that was lame. But today we get to wear short sleeves! Hurray. The nights are super cold an being packed for Taiwan has not helped with that but I have enough blankets and such that I am not cold at nights. 

Wheeler and Perkins. My two best buddies at the MTC

Yesterday we were walking around and checking out the area and we met Brother Trumane. He is one of the mission leaders and is super cool, he told us about his ward and how to get around best. OH and we don't have a car or bikes so we are always walking or getting rides. We have spent a lot of time finding records and meeting people to we haven't gotten too far into the investigator side of things but we will be able too start this week. 

    After our first sacrament meeting we ate lunch at our apartment then left to find the Stake Center, which is a little farther than we thought. But as we were walking, a guy who looked like a Mormon came up to us. (insert Jim Gaffigan Quote)  SURPRISE he was a Mormon! He was coming from the building we were headed to. His name is Brother Boyle and he is Elders Quorum Adviser. He said that every Sunday they met with a brother named Brian Peterson who is less active at around 2:00 PM. And what'daknow!?! It was at that time 2:05! So we ran up to his house and grabbed his car then headed over to his house. 

My new Comp. Elder Abbott

Brian was sitting on his front porch reading the Book of Mormon and taking notes, which was super cool. For all reading this, Always take notes! So we walked up and he was really nice and let us in. We sat down and started talking about where he was and what his questions were (which he had written down ;) ) and we got into a pretty good discussion. He says he knows it's true and he is very into it. He hasn't finished the B.o.M yet but he is in 2 Nephi and is trying to read a chapter a day. I shared with him a scripture from Alma (sorry I couldn't remember what verse or chapter) that said something about the small means and diligence it takes for miracles to come and when faith and diligence cease so do miracles. I bore my testimony on how if he continues to diligently read and pray about it he will continue to receive blessings. Previously he had been let go from his job and then he found another one (where his boss was Mormon) almost immediately. So now he doesn't have an excuse to miss church! The lord works in mysterious ways Right?? 

And not as cool but still pretty cool. There are two Asian families in my area and they could possibly speak Chinese. And a Stake member knows a Chinese native who is just out of our area and we are trying to get permission to meet with her. So that is pretty exciting! my companion is excited to learn Chinese. Haha he keeps asking me all these questions about how it works and it's keeping me on my toes. I hope I don't digress too much here but it will be difficult getting back to where I was. My companion has told me a few times that I came pre-trained but I know I have a lot to work on.And all that I do know I credit to the MTC. I had a lot of lame experiences there that made me not appreciate it sometimes. But I grew so much there. Spiritually and also my knowledge on the gospel and of teaching. I credit all of that to the wonderful speakers and teachers there. It is a blessed place.

My new Mission President and Wife, The Brinkerhoffs

So we have had some amazing experiences. This area is gold and I am very excited to be here! I am doing very well and I am happy to be here! 

Ài dá héeeeeee is the place to be!

- Elder Christensen

P.s. The mission president, according to the Zone Leaders, is ok with people like Adelide visiting. So if she wants to and I am still here I would love to have lunch with her. Just let me know.