D - Day = DEPARTURE.

I hesitated about posting this email....it's not a downer, or bad, just the reality of how he is feeling.  He is ready to head out into the mission field.....good thing because that is happening now as I type.

He would have needed to be at the airport at 6:00am or so.

In case you missed it, this other elder grew up in Kev's parents ward, 

he noticed Ethan's last name and asked if he knew them.  Yes!  They are my grandparents! Totally cool!  So Elder  Larson had this pic taken and sent to his mom.  Yesterday while at church she came over and was talking with Deanne, Kev's mom, who I was sitting by, and said hey I want to show you something.

It was this picture!

Deanne was like, well this is Ethan's mom sitting right here!

It was a fun and sweet surprise.

I have the jitters, and the tears, and the shakes for him.

It is much more real now that he is leaving the country for the remaining twenty three months

of his mission.

Before, dropping him in a little protective nest in Provo, Utah, with our entire family surrounding him was 

nothing.  It was a relief and a pleasure.

Him leaving today is right, and wonderful....but a bit more scary and real. 

I just remind myself of this:

D&C 84:88

 88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

All will be well with him.

After our Christmas Day phone call.

Yeah, sorry about the phone call. I was kind of choked up and i couldn't really talk. I wanted to say a lot more but it was hard. And then it was really hard to hear cause there was a million people in there all trying to talk and i didn't like to see the timer right in front of me counting down. And i tried to go on my email too and right when i logged on they got mad at me and told me I wasn't allowed to email even though it was Christmas. I don't understand why they wouldn't let us email on Christmas, that is a rule I don't understand or like. So yeah I was kind of in a sad mood. I'm okay though. David Archuleta came and sang for us after the phone call it was pretty cool! I think he made everyone forget about David A. Bednar haha. After that they had us watch a movie called Ephraim's Rescue I think. It was pretty good! It was a decent Christmas. But there were people here saying that they wouldn't trade this Christmas for anything and stuff and I do not feel that way. I leave soon! We have a departing devotional tonight. We did a lot of packing and stuff today and said goodbye to our teachers. I can't wait to leave! Guys I might be able to call at the airport...can you guys have your phone sounds on all day on the 28th and 29th? I bought a calling card for 10 bucks but they said it only has 3 calls on it or something. So if I try and call you and no one answers it still counts as one :( So hopefully you guys can answer. I love you guys! I wish I could give you all a hug. Thanks for the cat socks, I'm wearing them right now. I don't know when I'm going to get to wear the cat shirt but its awesome. I am also wearing my Darth Vader tie that grandpa sent me. 

I hope you all had a good Christmas! 

Love, Ethan 

Feliz Navidad

Eth seems a little down this letter....understandable.  We are excited to speak with him in two more days on Christmas.

Well. It's raining a lot here instead of snowing which is super lame. And all my teachers that we've had the whole time since we got here have been leaving too for Christmas vacations. So now we have substitute teachers for our last week. No me gusta. My Spanish is getting a little better. We do this thing on Monday where they have us Skype members from south america and teach them a lesson. Yesterday me and my companion talked with some girl from Guatemala on Skype and I understood everything she said, so that's a good sign. But I know when I get to Argentina I'm going to get wrecked and not understand very much and probably get lost. They made me the travel leader for my group of 6 people and I don't know why. So we did get our flight plans this week, I am scheduled to depart on the 28th around 8 to the salt lake airport. We have a 5-6 hour flight to Atlanta, and then we leave at 9:00pm on a flight to Buenos Aires, which is scheduled to arrive at 9:00am. Santa Vaca! That's going to so rough. After that we have a bus ride across the country to Cordoba. I have no idea how long that will take. Probably forever.

 I hope it's better once I get to the field cause the MTC is seriously aburrido. I don't want to be indoors anymore. I'm getting pale enough that i can barely see my old watch tan from the car wash. The only thing I really enjoy here is Spanish class and language study where we just talk in Spanish for an hour about whatever we want. I told everyone yesterday about when I had a pet dove that rode on my shoulder for a few days until my mom set him free while we were at school haha. I love you mom! 

It doesn't even feel like Christmas here. There's no snow. Or Christmas music other than hymns. I miss my family and friends just about more than I can take. It's really sad being lonely and homesick on Christmas.  All the adults here say that this is a Christmas we will never forget and will always cherish. We shall see. 

Along with our teachers, we had to say goodbye to our only real investigator last week on Thursday. The guy named Elias from the Dominican Republic. He was so much fun to teach. I can tell that he really liked us. We had a really good connection with him (we talked about baseball and martial arts. My companion is a wrestler). But Thursday was our last lesson because we aren't scheduled to teach him during our last week at the MTC. (we have infield orientation and stuff.) So it was actually really hard to say goodbye. It was definitely the first time i got emotional talking in Spanish. He told us about overcoming a cocaine addiction and all sorts of motorcycle wrecks and stuff. After the lesson he revealed to us that he was a real investigator and has been for 25 years. That was really frustrating because we all knew that he knew the church was true, he just wouldn't commit. So hopefully the next missionaries can put him across the line. I know that if we had been able to teach him a couple more times we would be able to get him! So yeah that's the first real disappointment of the mission. 

We have infield orientation tomorrow. I don't really know what that will be like! 

I'm nervous about going to Argentina but excited also. I know it has to be better than being stuck indoors 24/7!

I love everyone. I hope you all have a great Christmas break! Feliz Navidad 

Pale Face.

Hello. I am starting to get pretty pale from lack of vitamin D. I'm trapped in this box and I cannot get out. Man cannot live on bread alone...Sunlight is also required. I really want to get out in the field just so I can go outside! It's hard to go from working outside 10 hours a day at a car wash in the heat to sitting inside 24/7 in a cold place. Thank you everyone who sent me clothes, blankets, a scarf, and mismatched gloves. I'm doing okay now! It has been snowing a lot here lately. It's still cold walking to the temple at 6 am in the dark when its snowing but its worth it for the view! Everything looks so much more beautiful covered in snow, especially the mountains! 

We got another investigator named Elias to commit to baptism this week. He is from the Dominican Republic. He is a real investigator, but hes been an investigator for 25 years. The church pays him to come in and role play with missionaries. He tries to trick us by asking us why coffee is bad and then shows us a website that names all the health benefits. It was annoying haha. But our baptismal date is on the 28th (in the role play) but he has a real one for January I believe! 

I met an Elder here named Elder Larson who knows my grandpa Christensen. Someone should call grandpa and ask about him! 

I finally remembered to bring my camera for the temple walk so I finally got some pictures. All the people who i asked to take pictures didn't really do a good job haha. 

Me and my companion have gotten so much better at teaching this week! We used to make huge lesson plans basically copied from preach my gospel and it would takes us hours to translate it to Spanish but as soon as we actually got in the lesson, it all went out the window. The investigator always takes it in a different direction. So now we just make a simple outline and ask a lot of questions. Questions are everything. And listening. If you are thinking about what you are gonna say next while they are talking instead of listening, you're going to miss everything they say. 

Not a whole lot else happened this week. But oh my Gosh we get our flight plans next week! Today is our 1 month anniversary of being here. I think time will go by faster once we get to the field. I'm supposed to leave on the 29th of December...ill get down there just in time for new years maybe and it'll be crazy. Ill have a lot more to say once i get to the field im sure!

-Elder Christensen

Great letter Buddy!  Love the listening advice....!

 GQ Studs.

 Isn't there some "missionary calendar" out there these fellas should be in?

Your MTC days are numbered Elders.... Soak up your last few weeks.

"Mom, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends"

Hello Family and Friends, this time I decided to include the little snippets that E and I were lucky enough to snatch while he was answering and writing emails today....It is almost like we are texting.  I have learned that if I check my phone one million times between the hours of 12:00 - 2:00pm, I will catch the first reply from Elder C. and then I can answer his questions, and vice versa.

Soooooooooo......if you have something pressing,

let me know and I may be able to get an immediate answer next Wed.

(hmmmmm.....that doesn't even make sense.)

Good thing his friend Arielle shared her private stash of photos with us, 

(after I threatened, and begged....j/k)

cuz otherwise we'd have been stuck with only the guy in the hat this go round :(

Some of this will make more sense in a second: 

Me to Eth,

Why was the blanket thing embarrassing?  

Hopefully you have caught on....if you say you need something in your emails....It's gonna be a hot topic, and we will try and meet your needs ASAP.  Your friends and family are going to come to your rescue.  If you happen to say your are dying for Swedish fish.....Look out dude!  No one wants to see their boy suffer or be shivering at night.  So it is kind of a magical situation to know at least 30 peeps are waiting for your correspondence.  Once in a life time for sure.  Not sure we will be able to do the same while you are in Argentina....but you've got another few weeks to milk it at the MTC if you think of anything ;)  

ps - what DO you need/want for Christmas????  

LOOK HOW HANDSOME AND GOOD HE LOOKS!!

Plus his companion also = perfect companionship.

yes my companion is going with me. apparently a good website to buy cool ties/socks is nickersltd.com i think. I haven't looked at it so i don't know. but if you want to get me any cool ties/socks that would be awesome! also if there are any ties with animals or magical creatures that would be awesome! cds don't really work, we aren't really allowed to play music.

You would really want more socks? You can wear crazy ties like that?

yeah. my teacher actually complimented me on red socks and a sock tie. everyone who was freaking out about it is wrong so tell the world that sock ties are not only allowed but highly coveted in the tie trading industry. 

..................................................................................

Okay here's my longish email.

It's kind of hard to write a ton. We are in class between 8-12 hours every day, so not as much happens compared to the field. 

Good things that happened this week: We got one of our "Investigators" to commit to a baptismal date! First one! But this guy is also our teacher so don't get too impressed. 

There were some spiritual experiences but nothing super super powerful. We learned a better way to study. It involves tearing down your beliefs by questioning them, and then researching them and praying about them and building them back stronger: "no man can be saved in ignorance" blind belief isn't enough. So how it works: 1. Ask a question about anything. Anything you want to learn more about or even stuff you already think you know. 2. answer the question to the best of you abilities. 3. ask another revised question based off the answer you just gave. 4. repeat the process until you've build your beliefs back up though scripture and prayer. 

Sorry i feel like I've done a horrible job explaining. But i recommend this method to anyone who studies their scriptures at home (which should be everyone!)

 We had a devotional with the yw general president or something but she talked about how sometimes god lets bad things happen to us so that we can grow back stronger the way he wants us to be. Compare it to a gardener pruning plants. They grow back stronger and more fruitful. God loves us enough to hurt us so that we can become better. Kinda scary but its a good way to think about hard time. My teacher said that when we are going through hard times, we are on the verge of something great. Either because God is pruning us, or because we are so close to becoming really good that satan is trying his hardest to stop us! So if we just get back up, and keep moving forward, we will end up a lot happier than we have ever been. 

Other things that happened: My mom called the front desk and told them i was cold at night. So they called me up there and gave me an extra blanket. "Mom you're embarrassing me in front of my friends!" it was funny. But when i got back to the dorms i told everyone that there was a problem with my visa and that they were going to transfer me to the salt lake mission for up to 6 months while they figured out my visa. Hahahaha and they all believed me and got depressed so i had to tell them the truth. 

One of my companions reckons he got attacked by satan yesterday. He excused himself from the room hyperventilating and came back with a bunch of revelation about crushing the serpent's head. It was interesting. We weren't sure what to believe cause he's always talking about getting revelation, literally 24/7. Maybe he's just some kind of seer. I'm going to attach a picture of the other guys in the dorm with me and my companion. In the picture, The seer guy is the one wearing that hat that makes him look like one of the dwarfs from the hobbit. If you look closely you can also see that he is wearing long johns under his shorts. These are the guys that i have to deal with 24/7 hahah. It's hard to live with people that i didn't choose haha. It's impossible to get a moment alone. But my companion is super awesome. He's been writing fake dear john letters to girls that he dated before he came on his mission hahah. Teachers here say living with companions is like preparation for marriage, but i just don't think it's the same hahaha. At least in marriage you get to choose who you live with! 

We have a lot of study time. As I mentioned, 8 hours on some days and 12 hours on others. It's kinda rough sometimes. We always find awesome scriptures though. Check out: Zechariah 5:1 and Joshua 1:9. The Joshua one is reassuring during hard times. (Sorry if i got the references wrong im doing this from memory because i forgot my journal.) There were a lot more scriptures but I can't remember them right now. 

I'm sorry i don't have any new pictures. I keep forgetting to bring my camera when we go to walk on the temple grounds, and that's when we take the most pictures.

I'll have more to write when i get out in the field!

I miss you all!

Love, Elder Christensen 

PS - Tell grandpa thanks for the scarfs and hoodies. I love the scarf. Also, thanks for the mismatched gloves....hhaah ill probably pass those down.

Peace Out.

No Really.....Peace be unto you.

Ok......Now this is more like it!

Hi Family and Friends, here is Elder Christensen's most recent email....I kinda feel bad that I pressed him for a little more juice in my last email to him.  I was just saying that he could wrap most of his answers and writing in to one big email to ME :) and then I would disseminate share with EVERYONE.  However, I certainly understand he wants to respond to you all personally.  I know he appreciates your love and concern for him.  Keep up the good work.

PS - I also learned the Elder C. joined the choir!!  He wrote to McCauley that he did it to help him keep as busy as possible to avoid home sickness. 

...............................................................................................

hello,

sorry my email wasn't long enough...but its really hard to send big long emails to everyone. I had 29 emails from lots of different people so its hard to send long emails to everyone. And i had just as many this week from even more people so im gonna try to reply better. 

I hope Thanksgiving was great for you all! Im super sad that i missed the turkey trot! Looked like fun running in the rain. Did anyone cook up some pheasants? 

We walked to the temple this morning. Oh my gosh it was like 12 degrees and i was freezing. And then when i got there i found a beanie in my pocket hahaha. I have discovered that i forgot all my hoodies. I have plenty of long sleeve shirts but no hoods! Im really cold at night. 

I do get pretty home sick sometimes. But I have had a couple pretty spiritual experiences this week. 

Starting with thanksgiving: We had a big time service project today. 1500 missionaries all together in the gym, and we made meals for 357,000 people. mas o menos. it was the most people the mtc has ever fed from a service project, and it was cool to be a part of it. In the evening, we had a devotional with Dallin H. Oaks. Obviously that was really spiritual and he talked about being thankful for everything, especially our trials. But that wasn't even the best part of the day. After he left we had another devotional, and at the end they showed a couple videos of some of the apostles testimonies of Christ. And they were super powerful. The closing hymn was "I believe in Christ, and during the second to last verse a couple people started standing up, then more and more and by the time the last verse came everyone was standing. Its kinda against the rules but i could feel the spirit so strongly. I had goosebumps. Yo se que JesuCristo Vive. 

Another good moment this week was a lesson me and my companion had with an investigator named "Jose Enrique" hahah. If you don't know why thats funny then ask Ryker. But anyways it was kinda a last minute lesson so we didn't have a lot of time to plan. But during the planing i just kept feeling like i should write down the baptismal invitation in spanish cause there would be a time during the lesson where i would need it. But we were in a hurry and i had to go so i didn't. It was the first lesson anyway and we had never even gotten close to being able to ask someone to prepare to be baptized in all our other lessons. But the lesson with Jose just went so well. We got him to pray on his knees with us and taught him a bunch of other stuff. So at one point i asked him "Cree que nosotros ensenamos es verdad?" Do you believe what we have taught you is true? And at that moment i really felt like i should invite him to prepare to be baptized. But i didn't know how. 

Even though i blew it it still strengthened my testimony of revelation. God does talk to us in a lot of different ways. And it taught me that i need to act on any promptings that i may receive in future. 

Mi Espanol is coming a long pretty good i think. El don de lenguas es real, con Fe. 

There is a lot of traditions in my dormitory. Including: white elefante tie exchange, a christmas celebration on the 25th of every month, and the big one is passing things down. Every week 10 or more elders pass things down on to the new guys, and a lot of the items are super weird and have been passed down through dozens of generations of districts. The most sacred item is called the "orb of light" and it is a huge ball of rubber bands. Each new elder to receive it must add another layer of rubber bands. The previous holder bestowed it upon my companion y yo because we were his favorite. He was a solo missionary, his whole district left weeks ago but he had to stay another 3 weeks. So he just hungout with us. 

Other items that were passed down to me: A bottle of taco bell hotsauce that somehow has zero calories per serving, a bag of shaving cream with a banana stolen from the cafeteria in it, and a watergun. I attached pictures of all my gifts haha. Its so hard to send pictures cause it won't let us preview the pictures before we send them!!?? hahah lots of guys here are super weird. 

I wish i had more time to write everyone.

I will leave you with a scripture: Proverbs 21:19. Yo testifico que la versiculo es verdad. 

Companionship study always finds good scriptures hahah.

-Elder Christensen 

Wow!!!  That is quite Large!!

Missionary Treasure Trove!!  Who knew??

From the beginning.....

Ethan...

as you are well aware, 

you can't serve a mission with out first receiving your mission call.

Here is a look back to the very, very exciting day when you 

received your call to the Cordoba, Argentina Mission.

We went CRAZY with surprise and joy!

It was too much to dare dream that you would be called to serve 

in the same place as dad.

What a blessing. 

So before the mission talk begins,

here is a quick recap, of the last several weeks and up to the day of delivery to the 

Provo, MTC (Missionary Training Center).

Turns out the shoes mom purchased "wouldn't last one day of hard walking".

There was only ONE PLACE that would do...

Mr. Mac.

Kev helped E pick the exact shoes that got him through his own 

two years of service.

The day before your departure.

Lots of Family fun, hugs, and antics.

More good memories...

 Some last minute piano playing.

(Eth, did you take the Simplified Hymn Book with you? We can't find ours.)

Last minute preparations....a Father's Blessing,

and our Real Family Good byes.

Last family photo.

(Photo Cred: Papa Dude)

A REALLY last minute lunch sub.....

Picture taken just before you dripped special sauce onto your tie.

.......and then seriously.....

you were off with your missionary Host.

60 seconds tops.

....there you go.

.....farther now.....into your new life!

Don't look back.

GO FOR IT!

You are going to have your world ROCKED SO HARD 

FOR THE GOOD!!!

You are going to change lives son....

.....Especially your own.

We LOVE you so much.

God and concourses of Angels have pledged to be by your side.

D&C 84:88

You have nothing to fear.

.........and neither do we.