Ryker Didn't Get Called To Utah!

Hello! Well Shout out to my brother Ryker who just got called to the Finland Helsinki mission!! Congrats! Its going to be a super fun mission!

I doubt anyone will care too much about my email with all the excitement about Rykers mission call. I bet he is super happy he didn't get called to Utah! 

Im going to write a little one anyway. Well, This week has been my first full week in Rio Cuarto, it didn't even feel like a full week because we have been traveling so much it went by really fast. 

Being a zone leader has a been pretty crazy so far. One of the biggest differences is that we have 10,000 pesos extra to be used only for traveling. That is actually really nice because before now I always ended up having to use personal money to travel at the end of the month. But who knows the 10k might not even last because our zone is one of the biggest in the mission. It covers so much space, and it has 10 areas, we have to go to all of them to do interviews/exchanges and stuff. Some of the areas are really far away...there is a place called "Merlo" which is in a province called San Luis. Its the only area in our mission that is in that province and its really far away. 

We also have to go to Cordoba once a month for a meeting with all the zone leaders, the assistants and the president. I had my first one this past monday, we were supposed to take a bus at 5 am but my companion didn't want to get up that early and he had the phone so he set an alarm for 6 and we got to the meeting an hour late. That wasn't good but it all turned out alright. A lot of my friends where there (3 out of the 4 elders that came with me were there, the other one is in my zone) so it was a lot of fun. My new comp is finishing his mission in a month and he doesn't really care about being obedient anymore. Ive had so many companions like this in the past...I feel like this transfer might be difficult for me. I just hope I can learn a lot and still get some good work done. He says he still wants to baptize a lot before he goes home and we set a baptismal goal of 29 for the zone for this next month...its the highest goal in the mission. So there is some light there still!

This week apart from that I have mostly been getting to know the members here and the area...the members here seem really nice! They even have someone to play the piano. Its an old lady, she is really a beginner she has having a hard time on sunday. But I think she really enjoys it and im glad shes learning so that she can keep playing for the ward in years to come. 

We had one investigator come to church, her name is Lorena. This is the 4th time she has come to church, and she really really wants to get baptized. Her kids have already been baptized. The only problem is that she's not married to the father of her kids and they live together. They need to get married so that she can get baptized. We taught them as a family this week, it was a really good lesson the dad even accepted an invitation to be baptized. However its complicated because he is a truck driver and is barely ever home on sundays, or he is sleeping the whole day. We just have to get him to understand the importance of going to church and getting married. Im hopeful for him, it just might take while!

We also had a confirmation this sunday! A little kid named Gino was confirmed, he was baptized the week before. His sister was also baptized last week! They are great kids, we have been visiting them a lot. 

We played soccer in cordoba for p-day yesterday. I played goalkeeper the whole time on a team full of chilenos and Brazilians...they are so good its crazy. I wish I had played soccer before the mission. 

Anyway, here's a scripture that I read today that I liked a lot: Mosiah 8: 18 Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.

I know this is true! We have the capacity to do a lot of good things in the world! I hope that God can use me as an influence for good through the rest of my mission and the rest of my life. I love the Gospel!

Love you all! 

-Elder Christensen 

some last pictures from cosquin​

A bunch of Lasts.....and one first! Zone Leader.

Well I've been transferred..after 4 and a half months in Cosquín, They sent me to a city thats about 5 hours in bus away from Cosquín. Its called Rio Cuarto, its the second biggest city in the mission, its big like Cordoba! It seems really cool so far. Im also going to be a zone leader here! Its sad that I had to leave Cosquín, I had gotten really close with a lot of people there, and Ill miss elder Mooneyham, we had been there together for a long time. He was a good comp. My new companion is from Brazil, his spanish accent is pretty funny. He seems cool so far but I don't really know him yet. This is his last transfer...he will be my 3rd companion who has finished the mission while being my comp. Its usually not a good experience because some of them get lazy in their last transfer but I think this one will be good. 

The last week in Cosquín was another one without a baptism, sadly our best investigator francisco had a hard time accepting the word of wisdom. He knows its all true, he told me himself but he told me straight up "I want to sin a little bit more, ill change later". I tried to help him understand the importance of our choices and how it impacts eternity, but he doesn't want to change yet he said. He smokes weed and does some other stuff too and doesn't want to change right now because its hard. We have been working with a lot of people who have that attitude lately. 

We had a lot of lasts this week...the last thursday night english class with the youth (they were really sad that one of us was going to be leaving), we had our last district meeting for district "La Coca" with our area, La falda, and capilla del monte. It was also the last time we would see elder manzanete, from brazil who finished his mission today. I took a last picture of the mountains, skipped a few last rocks in the river. I gave my last testimony in church, and took a bunch of pictures with all the members afterwards. I also visited a lot of them that afternoon and yesterday. Its really sad to say goodbye! Its probably the worst part of the mission. A lot of them made me promise to visit them when I finish the mission so I told them I would visit them in November! Hopefully that works out. 

I wanted to spend as much time visiting people as posable during my last two days, we were never in the house and when we were I was cooking banana bread that I wanted to gift to some people, so I didn't pack until the last second. It was awful, last night I was up packing until 2:30 am, went to bed and as soon as I closed my eyes it seemed like the alarm was going off at 5:30, we had to get to the terminal to be in cordoba by 8 am. They didn't tell me that I was going to have to buy my own bus ticket to Rio Cuarto...its not fair because some missionaries got transferred within the city and basically had to pay nothing, but my new area was 3 hours away the ticket was expensive and I didn't even have enough money so I had to borrow some....

This is a scripture I have been sharing with a lot of the people this week because we are all sad about the separation..its in Alma chapter 17: 10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.

11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

Saying goodbye sucks! Its one of the saddest things, but I really like these scriptures. They are saying that if we trust in God and continue on with what he asks us to do, we will be blessed with success and also we will be able to see these people again! If not in this life, we will all be there together in the celestial kingdom if we try our best. 

Also, like I was saying last week, life passes so fast. The last scripture in the book of Enos made a big impact on me...27 And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen.

More than anything I want to hear that when I die! I hope I can do everything God wants me to do so that I can have that blessing..

I love you all! Hope all is well! 

Love, Elder Christensen