Week 10 - Spanish Town

This week was a pretty solid week! We got a new investigator who was taking lessons in Nagril and moved down to Spanish Town. She moved in with her boyfriend though after getting the law of chastity lesson. Kind of funny but we hope she will soon get married. Men here in Jamaica don't want to get married sadly. But Yaneek's boyfriend really wants to get married! And he also wants to raise a family in the gospel! Her boyfriend Dwane is a pretty cool guy. He lived in England for 15 years and he said that’s were he really found out how important family is. Family is so important to gods plan for us.

I got to go on a tradeoff this week with Elder Koegler. He is a great Missionary! I learned a lot from him. He is pretty funny in lessons and it makes the investigators be themselves when we are all laughing. He is going home at the end of the transfer though. 

Street contacting this week had some pretty funny experiences. I went up to a man and we talked for a little bit and i asked him for his number so we can call him. He was about 25 years old and he told me that him mom said he can't give out his number to anybody. So we left and Elder Graham and I just busted up laughing. But another guy we talked to was the brother of someone Elder Graham was teaching before i got here. Hopefully he will come to church. He plays the piano! not many Jamaicans know how to do that! 

I finished the book of Mormon on Saturday! I started on the 24 of September and finished the 14 of November. Never thought i could read that book so fast. I learned so much from it though. Now I’m reading it again. I got a new copy and am just focusing on Faith. One of the challenges President Brown has given us is to read 6 pages of the book of Mormon every day. If we do that we will finish the book of Mormon in 100 days. 

On Sunday we get to church an hour and a half early. So i just start reading the book or Mormon or other church books. The 2nd counselor came up to me and said man you are always preparing a talk. I was joking back with him and said Yeah Just let me know when you want me to speak! I don't think he knew i was joking around because he told all the missionaries to write a talk on the importance of families. All the missionaries just shook their heads at me haha but I laughed and am excited to talk to the importance of Families! We got several families here on earth! Our family we are born into and our ward family! Families are important! 

Hope everything is good back into the states!

Nuff Love

Elder Christensen 

Elder Gardner Made Rice and Peas with Stew Pork and festivals! Super good!

Crazi Missionaries 

Elder Pulsipher and Elder Christensen

Week 9 - Spanish Town

Wagwong Family!

This week we got to go to Kingston for P Day! We were going to go to bob marley museum but it was too much Money! 2000 JMD. Don't got that money yet saved up haha but soon come we will go there! I finished my First transfer though! I'm about 8 Percent done with the Mission! Today also is my 2 month mark! it has gone by super fast! I'm getting a little nervous about how fast it will be! In Kingston we ate at chilitos which is a Jamaxician Restront. It was supper good! Also went to the devin house and had ice cream! The ice Cream melts super fast here! 

We had International day of service on Saturday. We did something called Chop Yard. It was more like Chop a whole farm field. We went to a special needs school and they have a farm and teach the kids little things. But we cut the grass out of this field and Macha trees which are worse that a cactus. Their needles are way sharp! Got my hand all cut up from doing this work!

Brother Price a member in the ward threw a party and invited a bunch of non members! I learned how to play jamaican Domonos. My favorite was the french version. Lots of rules though! 

We got Tahni on date for December 27th. He said once he reads the book of mormon all the way through he will be baptized! Super happy for that! 

Jamaica is awesome i"m so glad i'm serving a mission. A scripture from 3 Nephi 13:21, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. We need to make our treasures not worldy things. Make them what god would want them to be and than we will be closer to him because thats where our heart will be! Love Serving the lord! 

Nuff Love

Elder Christensen

Elder Gardner, Elder Graham, Elder Banton, Elder Pulsipher, and Elder Christensen

Fried fish - fried the whole fish

Service Day

Service Day

Week 8 - Spanish Town

Jamaica has been full of rain this week! When it rains here it is usually a nice sprinkle or you get soaked and the rest of the day you are just wet! Thankfully i haven't been in a bad rain storm yet! 

This week Elder Graham and I Had a goal to get 21 Potential Investigators. We got 22!! We don't always get to see the people we talk to because i think they feel bad if they say no i don't want to hear about this so when we go to their house they are never there haha but we met an man named Tahni this week. Tahni is such a smart Jamaican! never meet a man here that could read like him and remember as much as he can! Probably because he doesn't have a spliff in his mouth like everybody else! Tahni has about 1/4th of the book of mormon read. He has had the book for 4 days. He loves reading and he remembers everything and tells us what he has read. he will even call his wife who lives in Canada and teach her what we just teaching him! Really hope he will understand that even though he has been baptized that it didn't have the proper authority or that Priesthood. He is an amazing guy! Annie also came to church this sunday!! She said she is going to come every sunday! She loves the church. She had so many friends in the ward that she didn't even know were mormon! She really wants to be baptized but her boyfriend who has been living with her for 10 years doesn't want to get married... Jamaicans confuse me. 

Elder Havali one of the Assistants to the President came to Spanish town and went teaching with Elder Graham and I. It was one of the best experiences so far on my Mission. He is an amazing teacher! I learned so much and he said he was really impressed with me. He said he has never seen a new Missionary just go up and talk to people. That night really took me to another level. Teaching people now we stop after a few sentences and check for understanding. It seems to be working so much better! I'm grateful to have that experience. 

The food this week was... Interesting. I had Fried fish! The fish was cleaned out but after that they just deep fry it with the skin and head and tail. It was pretty good! I was surprised how good the head of the fish was! A little crunchy but good! I also had Brown Stew! It had rice and chicken liver! the liver was a little suprise! Tahni didn't tell us it was liver until after we finished all of it!! It was a little salty but it was full of iron he said! 

I'm so grateful to be out here in Jamaica. Elder Graham and I talked to a guy on the street from Cali and he asked us how we liked it here. I said i loved it here and he said are you kidding me! It's so scary and crazy here! People die every day! I know my Heavenly Father is looking after me because i'm doing his work and i'm obeying the rules, keeping the commandments, and praying. Never forget to pray. I have become so close to my Father and have been prompted so many times. Inspiration is real and prayer is the way we ask for that! I love ya all! Keep up the work in the states! 

 

Nuff Love! 

Elder Christensen

Elder Christensen gets a haircut from Elder Graham

Irish Moss drink - tastes like a peanut butter shak

Halloween

Week 7 - Spanish Town

Week 7 - Spanish Town

Hey Family!

This week has been great! I got to go on my first Exchanges on Wednesday. I was with Elder Knight for the day. It was fun to go to another area and to see some new people! There was some pretty great Sun sets this week! I tried a lot of different foods this week! I had Chicken foot stew! It was great! The Chicken foot isn't too bad. If you cook it just right it is the Best part of the chicken!! I also tried bone Marrow. You bite off the end of the bone and just suck out the marrow inside the bone! That is pretty good too! I also had some coconut water! Its good as well! Jamaicans have a different type of Ketchup. They put cane sugar in it and people just load up on ketchup!

This week we found some pretty cool investigators. One's name is Collin. He has read the Book of Mormon 3 times! He loves the book and knows it is true but doesn't know what to do now with this knowledge! We are going to teach him in 2 weeks because he went up country to visit some friends. We are also teaching Annie. A member referral from a recent convert. Annie is doing really well! She says when ever she reads the book of Mormon she feels joy. That's a good sign she knows it is true! We just need to get her to church. That's one of the biggest problems in Jamaica is church attendance. Not many people have cars. They all walk or take Taxis. It costs 2 dollars to get where ever you need to be. Its pretty cheep. Taxi's are crazy! most of them don't have AC you come out sweating like crazy!

We got Rain on Sunday! but the bad part about rain is Jamaicans are scared of the rain. when the rain comes down the Jamaicans go inside and the rest of our day stinks because they won't let us in and nobody is to be found on the streets!

Church was great this Sunday! One of our Investigators Erika who said she had a dream about the book or Mormon came to church. I have never seen her kids so quiet! It was awesome she was able to see how church is like and hopefully she keeps on working and getting to church!

I love the Book of Mormon! I'm so grateful to be able to teach others about this wonderful book! I know it is true! The more we read it the stronger we become in the gospel. The Book of Mormon has so many promises in it if we keep the commandments and we don't fallow the influence of the world. I love Jamaica and the People! I will just stop and sit down next to a man on the street and talk to him about the gospel and the Happiness that it brings to my life! I know that Families can be together forever because of the Plan of Salvation! I love and pray for each and everyone of you! Keep working hard and endure to the end!

Nuff Love

Elder Christensen

Elder Graham and Elder Christensen chugging coconut water

Sunsets in Spanish Town

Humm ... not sure about this one

selfie time

Week 6 - Elder Christensen in Spanish Town, Jamaica

Week 6

 

 

Hey!  These Weeks are flying by!! On Monday it was Heros Day. There were lots of Parties and Alcohol and Weed. We went to see a woman yesterday named Annie! She has a Mini Bar in her house sooo there were a lot of drunk people at her house! Little back story 2 other Elders Baptized this Lady and she said hey can you guys get some Missionaries to my Friends? Thats where Elder Graham and I come in. We went and saw the first Lady and she said never come back i already have a God. Sooo we left after that haha but Annie Lives next door and we met her at one of her parties she was throwing . There are always High and Drunk people at her house but that makes for funny times. They think that Weed is really good for the mind and it makes you smarter. Haven't seen one smart guy with a spliff in their mouth. Annie is really loving what we have to teach her. She loves the restoration! I can't wait to get into the plan of salvation with her because she has a baby daddy that she is planning on getting married to by the end of the year! She has a 17 year old daughter who is also sitting in on our lessons. Annie said she will come to church this sunday! Hopefully she does! Church is the best place to learn more. Missionaries are great but not as good as the Ward Members support! 

This week Elder Graham and I went to go Finding in Innsome. We didn't find anybody but when we were walking back to our house at night we stopped at a gated Neighborhood and I said to Elder Graham lets go chat it up with the Security guards! We tried to talk to one but he said just go talk to the guy at the gate. So we went over and talked to a guy named Julio. We got to talking and he lives on the same street as one of other Investigators. Turns out thats his mom we are teaching!! He got Married a few months ago and his marriage is gettting rough. We talked to him about the Plan of Salvation and he said you guys need to come over. I know that what you guys have will help me and my wife out. We are diffidently going to visit him this week! 

On Tuesday Last week i got to go on Exchanges with Elder Robbins my MTC Companion! It was a lot of fun we talked to a lot of people and teaching him was so much fun. We are a lot better teachers that when we were back in the MTC! 

Teaching Erika was interesting this week. She is in her late 20's but hangs out with 14 year old kids and younger. She has 2 kids as well and they are pretty crazy. Its hard to teach when they are jumping on her and us. The environment isn't really good right now but we are going to visit her this week when everybody is at school so hopefully it will go a lot better! Her little 3 year old girl was flipping me off during one lesson haha she is a silly girl. Her little 4 year old boy was taking a puppy and throwing it in the air and not catching it. They really don't like their dogs. Or they love them so much they get to excited and drop them. 

I'm so grateful for the time i get to be out here in Jamaica! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and the more we read it the better we can aline our lives with Christ. Members are so important to the work. The Members will help the Investigator more along so much faster! I'm grateful for eveybody back at home and the example they set for me. I know that Jesus Always has his hand stretched out and we just need to grab onto it and he will help us through our hard times. I love being a Missionary!!

Nuff Love, 

--

Elder Christensen

 

 

This week was Elder Knights Birthday! He got flowered in the morning! Here is also a picture of the sunset and my bike "The Viper"

Week 5

Week 5

 

This week was full of a ton of surprises!! We now have 6 people on date for baptism! It Is awesome that people are coming to know that this is the true church! We plan to have 10 people total on date by the end of this week! One of the roads we are on a lot is 58th street. we have 3 people on date there. We were teaching Rose one evening and when we came out of a lesson there was this lady throwing rocks at this 20 year old. Elder Graham and I looked at each other and laughed but this young adult was taking those rocks like a champ! She just kept walking away like nothing was hitting her!

The working is increasing every day! We get 3 new people to teach each day but not all of them give us their real number or address.... its a little disappointing. We went to see a guy named Deer but he gave us a false number and we saw him latter that day and he turned around and walked the other way!

I got to give a talk this Sunday at church!! It was on Increasing your Faith. I got to choose the topic. We have many less actives and non members that week at church and it was defiantly inspired. Lots of people came up to me after and said it was great. One of the other brothers said that I looked like the guy from the King of Queens that drives the mail truck. That was a good laugh for the day!

 

The lady with the dream of the book, Erika, We were biking down 58th street on St Johns where we have 3 investigators and I saw her sitting outside her house so I stopped and Elder Graham biked back up to me and I talked to her about the happiness this gospel brings to me and my family and than I told her that families could be together forever. We set up a return appt. and when we came back she said she had been praying the day we found her that god would send her some help because she wanted to get closer to him. So we asked her if she believes in miracles and she said of course you are here right now! And than we said this book The Book of Mormon is a miracle to have and she said I had a dream about that book and that 2 people brought it to me! so we gave her the book and she reads it every day! She is in the 7th chapter of 1st Nephi. She is going along well. The only problem with her is that she has 3 little kids that are really annoying when we are teaching erkia they jump on us and mess with our bikes and so before we saw her this week I prayed that her kids would be calm and that we could have the spirit. They were. Prayers are answered so much! I love praying! We weren't sure if we could get her to church so be talked to her about it and before we could even ask the question she said I'm going to try to come to church this week! I know its the right thing to do! I love this work it is priceless!

We are teaching a good 20 people right now. It is always fun to talk to people about the plan of salvation. Lots of people don't know that you can see your family after death. The funerals are crazy here though! They get a huge marching band and cheerleaders that fallow the hurst! its so crazy they celebrate death but also morn it. We are teaching a woman named Sasha who has just lost a cousin. We told her that you could see her again after you die and her eyes got so big so we went back latter that week and talked to her about the plan of salvation! She loved it I hope that this message brings happiness to her because I know it does for me!

I hope everything is going good in the states!

nuff love

-- 

Elder Christensen

 

Passing out a Book of Mormon!

Week 4 - Jamaica Kingston Mission - Spanish Town

 Week 4

Well here it comes!! I've been out for a month now on the 9th!! Crazy how fast it went by!! This week was crazy with conference and we had a zone meeting as well so we didn't get to go out and teach that much but we worked our butt off every time we were out in the streets!! This week we saw a woman named Erika! She had 3 kids and is a single mom like most women here in Jamaica. When we were talking to her the first lesson she said she has been having dreams about this blue book... We had that blue book she has been looking for! When we first contacted her she prayed that day on her birthday that the lord would send someone to her to strengthen her faith in Jesus Christ and I love going over to teach her!

Conference was AMAZING!! Oh I wish I could of had the same experience at home! I noticed this conference all the talks were about simple doctrines like faith and keeping the commandments and that Mothers are super important! something I loved when Russel M. Nelson talked about how important mothers are in a family and through them we will all be converted. In Jamaica we teach a lot of women so hopefully we can get to the men through the women!  During conference in rained and rained so much!! it was super crazy!! The power went out a couple times and we had to listen to conference over a phone.

I hope you are all having an amazing time back at home!! Keep working hard and you will be blessed!!

Nuff love
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Picture 1 Conference listen over a phone because the power was out

Picture 2 Cereal and box milk. Milk here goes bad to fast so this milk doesn't expire until you open it. tastes alright

Picture 3 Cutting open a frozen Jelly (baby coconut) I'm pretty good with the Machet
--

Elder Christensen

Something Elder Christensen didn't say, but I read on his companion, Elder Graham's blog:  "Transfer were Thursday.  I received elder Christensen from Gilbert, AZ.  He is awesome.  The first day he was with me, he would just walk right up to people and talk about the gospel.  He is fearless which influences me to be more fearless as well." http://eldercgraham.blogspot.com/