Week 8: Milagro Chips and Salsa | Orange you glad to be in Peru?

Hey ya´ll. I am craving Mexican food like you wouldn´t believe. Peruvian food is super yummy but I havent spotted a burrito or taco anywhere in the land. 

Speaking of Milagro brand chips, Ive seen my own brand of miracles here. This week was pretty slow and Friday was...a dud. But not the yummy kind like milk duds. It was pretty discouraging and we prayed extra hard Friday night. TA-DA, Saturday. 

It started off with one of our investigators yelling at us about the Word of Wisdom. She was waving a shot glass around and screaming that you could not get drunk from that much wine. The Spirit flew straight out the window. When we finally got a chance to bear our testimony, her dogs stopped barking, she stopped yelling and it was crazy. I don´t think my testimony of the word of wisdom had ever been strengthened or tested in that way. 

After our traumatic lesson, we decided we needed some chocolate (obviously). We stopped by a store that is owned by the Bishop´s father. He was talking to a lady and her five year old daughter. He gave us the "contact this lady, i´ve already talked to her about the Gospel eyes" so we asked if we could visit her and teach her.. She agreed. MIRACLES. 

Later that night we got teach our golden investigator, Miguel. He understands everything and we taught him the whole plan of salvation (which is a pretty long lesson already) but afterwards he asked about apostles and church organization and it was just really great. 

On Sunday, we didn´t have anything to eat except some cereal (weird turn of events, usually I'm fine don´t worry mom). My companion told me about a promise that a missionary will never go hungry. Right when she was telling me this, Mamita asked us if we had somewhere to eat lunch. We said no and she fed us a delicious lunch. MIRACLES. Later that night we headed back to the room early (Day of Arequipa and there are lots of drunks so, safety first) and the mom of Hermana Teresa (from whom we rent our room) asked us if we had eaten. She owns a bakery and fed us a delicious meal. MIRACLES. 

We saw not once, but twice in one day the miracle and promise of the Lord looking out for his missionaries. I know that Heavenly Father is looking out for me and I am super grateful for people that listen to the Spirit because they are always an answer to our prayers. I love and miss you all and congrats to Evie!!! My first marriage that I will miss out on. Love you and thanks for all the emails.

p.s. Hermana Albornoz and I had some time after lunch on Saturday and we drew hideous orange faces. Super fun 

-- 

Sister Madeline Christensen

Week 7: Hermana Albornoz

I never know what to write and today is no exception. Tomorrow is one week in beautiful Arequipa, Perù. I miss the trees of Georgia but the sun setting over 3 volcanoes makes it worth it. Plus the cacti reach amazing heights here. I love it here so much!!! My shoes have never been dustier and i´ve never been chased by so many stray dogs but I wouldnt want to be anywhere else. 

I love my trainer/companion. Her name is Hermana Albornoz and he hails from the country of Chile. She also loves thrift shopping (Canchinas=thrift stores) and we are going today. She is a great singer and knows all the Disney Princess songs (in Spanish obvs) so I can broaden my arsenal-Sorry mom and dad. (youre welcome, sisters). 

The members of the Cèsar Vallejo ward are few but GOLDEN. They are so generous and gracious and sparkly. I´ve already asked for cooking lessons (s/o to SJCC) and I have a feeling that the rice will even out with how much we walk everyday. 

Everyday, the fact that i´m tall, white and awkward is reaffirmed. I don´t think that i´ve been stared at this much in my life. It´s been a solid week since i´ve seen a fellow mayonnaise. Being in an unfamiliar place is very humbling. I can understand almost everything and everyone but my speaking skills are still lacking. During lessons I can say one or two sentences about a topic and most of the time, my companion has to expound further. All the investigators love to call on me to say the pray. Luckily I think I have that down-thank you CCM. Joke´s on them haha. I still make lots of mistakes. Today I accidentally said that my dad is 412. WHOOPS.

Everyone that i´ve talked to here believes in God. I should start a tally of how many times people say " Soy Catolica" Haha its great. But you can tell this is a God fearing people. Anyways, just wanted to let you lnow that all is well, I´m working hard, and I am so grateful for this Gospel and for the light that it brings to people. 

Love you all

Hermana Christensen

p.s. we got a pensionista for breakfast and we usually just eat some fruit or something for dinner so I don´t need a stove. Thanks for the advice though! Lomo saltado is better than any smoothie I could make. 

Week 6: Arrival in Arequipa

Hey everyone,

I am writing to you from an internet cafe in Peru. It is super sketch just like everything here. All my attempts to be ratchet at the taco bell have culminated into my apartment shower that is just a shower head in the bathroom. Make sure you close the door and take the toilet paper out before you start or everything will get wet. I love it so much. I arrived yesterday (the 2nd) in Arequipa. It is just like Utah except more tin roofs. My cornflake boogers are sure to impress. My trainer is me except beautiful and Chilean. We both want to be teachers and love the arts and indie music. GR8. Most importantly, I am wearing sunscreen but I still might look like a raisin by the time my mission is up. We taught a lesson to a guy named Miguel last night. He is GOLDEN. It was his second or third lesson and we set a baptismal date for August 20th so I will keep you updated. After our lesson, he went out to the basketball court with the members and started learning how to do this traditional Peruvian dance. SO COOL. I wish I could learn but since I'm essentially a nun, there will be no such thing. Miguel was very impressed with my Spanish (I don't know why) and I got to teach him about the gift of tongues. We have three lessons tonight and visits planned for every other part of the day. I know its winter here but I think I'm already sweating. I am safe. My apartment has like 4 locked doors on it (just like everything else here) I look both ways before I cross the street and our taxi driver was definitely in NASCAR. Apparently I only have an hour to email (including my mission president letter) so I cant make any promises on how great my responses will be. I do read all your emails and take pictures of them when I need a boost. I have a "pensionista" (retired woman?) that makes us lunch and we are in charge of making breakfast and dinner but we do not have a stove. we only eat with members on Sundays. I ate a balanced breakfast with a weird coffee substitute that tasted like a crayon kind of. I am so in love with this place. My companion is amazing and super obedient and an answer to my prayers. Anytime something is hard or I start to get a bad attitude, I just think about you all and that cheers me right up. I hid my money and I always hold on to my bag so no on will steal it. The Lord is blessing me. 

Love,

Hermana Christensen

Week 5: Hey Kuzco

Hey Kuzco….

THere are a couple of Elders here who are SO good at doing Kronk´s

voice. You´ll just be walking down the hall and hear a Kronk from a

classroom. Way exciting.

I think this week was pretty uneventful. But it was probably the best

week yet. I feel so much “Gozo en mi alma”(joy in my soul) and I can

really see how much my teaching has improved. I can also understand

almost everything the Latina sisters say (they talk really fast) and

100% of everything my teachers say. This morning I was helping an

Elder with the toaster and he asked me if I spoke Spanish. I said yes

and his companion was like “¿un poco?” and I was like “no, mucho.” I

am so happy to be learning Spanish. I have always loved my Spanish

classes and I think that Heavenly Father knew I would be called to

Perú and so he blessed me with passion in the Spanish department of my

life. I really love in devotionals when they remind us that we have

been called to serve speaking Spanish. I am not learning Spanish for

me (although I feel SO SO lucky), but I am learning it so that I can

tell the people of Perú how much I know and believe that this Gospel

is true. And so that I can invite them to come unto Christ. This

mission is only 18 months but the consequences are eternal. Scary and

exciting all at the same time.

This time next week I will be in Arequipa. I am so so so excited and

also pee my pants nervous. I am trying to stay focused and work really

hard in the moment . So many people have told me that Arequipa is WAY

beautiful. I am only 2% nervous about rabid dogs and 9% nervous about

getting tapeworm nests in my brain from eating bad pork. Haha.

I am really going to miss my teachers and my super fun and spiritual

district of Elders and Hermanas but I also feel ready and excited to

learn and grow more.

One (of many) spiritual things that happened this week was during our

devotional on Tuesday. I am in the choir and we sang “Armies of

Helaman” and “Called to Serve” (Llamados a Servir porque we sang in

Spanish for that song). The accompianment was SO pretty and we sounded

so loud and sure of the words that we were singing. I looked at

Presidente Moore on the stand and he had tears running down his face.

I have never felt more sure in my life that this is where I need to be

right now.

I don’t think that I will be able to email  until August 8th so I just

want to tell you all that I love you so much and I think about all of

you every day and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here I

love the Lord so much. I am so excited to be an instrument in his

hands. I am nervous but not really because I know that I am called

here by God. I think my heart will explode. I love love love you all.

--

Sister Madeline Christensen

Week 4: One Month Down

GOOD MORNING DAVID COX STAFF AND STUDENTS,

I hope that you are all doing well! Tomorrow marks a month since I

left home. I can not believe that its been that long already.

So many exciting things have happened this week.

1. Our Spanish maestra taught us “ head, shoulders knees and toes” in

Español. Obviously, we had to have a Elder vs. Sister dance off.

Hermanas won of course. Even in the speed round.

2. Last p-day (after email) I decided a trim would be good. All the

elders have scheduled haircuts so why not me too? Hermana Mitchell

happened to bring some hair cutting scissors and Hermana Bagleys mom

used to cut hair so we were definitely qualified. It was a little

scary when she said she was done and my hair was DEFINITELY longer on

one side than the other (see photo) but we got everything figured out

and it doesn’t look bad at all. (shout out to SJ for her global

haircutting twin-ness)

3. My proselyting experience. We paired up with some missionaries from

the Lima Sur missions (no, I didn’t see hermana Joyner but I wrote her

a quick note that she will hopefully get). I gave away 4 pass along

cards to total strangers on the street (because everyone is a stranger

here haha) And I smiled my cheeks off. There is a light in people that

became so apparent to me as we walked through neighborhoods in Lima. I

have never been more desperate to share something so valuable with

everyone I see before. It is a crazy feeling. Only about two more

weeks until I will be out in Arequipa for real!!!

4. On Sunday night, we were watching an Elder Bednar devotional (2011

Christmas MTC devotional- Same as you, Elder Herrera except it was a

video and not Elder Bednar). Right when it was getting really good and

the spirit was so strong, a couple of hymnbooks on the shelf fell

over. Then the ground started shaking and the whole building felt like

people were stamping or something. All of us were like “wow, this is

SO good” and then we realized it was an earthquake. Apparently it was

a 5.2 from the ocean or something but it wasn’t that bad. I don’t know

since I cant watch the news ever but it was kind of exciting and I

think my first ever experienced earthquake.

5. Our district decided to do a fast from English. We started at 9 pm

on Monday and ended at 9 on Tuesday. We only spoke Spanish during this

whole time. It was a little bit tricky but by the end of it, it felt

weird to speak English. It is crazy cool how far we have all come.

None of the elders in my district took Spanish and let me tell you,

the Gift of Tongues is REAL. The Lord blesses us so much.

It has been a busy, exciting, spiritual and fun week filled with more

chicken and rice. I love it here. I miss you all so much but it has

already been a month!! I know that God is blessing us. I hope every

one is happy and safe and reading the Book of Mormon like I told you

too. Have a great week yall!!

Love, Hermana Christensen

--

Sister Madeline Christensen

Week 3: Nutella and a Volleyball

7-7-16

Apparently I ate cow heart this past week. It was super yummy but hard

to cut. Thursday was long and tiring. We learned how to teach the Plan

of Salvation in 3 minutes. Or 1 minute. Speedy, either way.

7/8/16

Today is Friday. There were some funny quotes from today.

 I’m sick of teaching

 We need to make the classroom more homey. Maybe a disco ball or a

Chik fil a stand in the corner.

 One minute to present the Plan of Salvation pamphlet is easier

because its less time to be bad

Sometimes we all get a little stir crazy. But our teachers will take

us out and we can run around for a minute so we don’t turn into

Zombies.

7/9/16

I got totally hit in the face with a volleyball today.

7/10/16

Today was Sunday. The Spirit is so strong here. Our leaders know so

much about the doctrine and Gospel of our Church. Hermana Willardson

almost made me pee my pants during choir practice. News update, people

that have stayed at the CCM have left notes in the ceiling tiles. Its

totally awesome and I feel like I should be in a Nancy Drew Book or

something. Elder Winger is the new District Leader. He is very

responsible. He is trying to teach all the Hermanas the correct way to

do push ups. So far, I can do 9 which is more than I could do before.

Yay. President Moore and his wife know so much. They are the

sweetest things ever.

7/11/16

Today is 7/11!! That means free slurpees for those of you out West,

yeah? I wish everyone a safe and prosperous slurpee adventure.

Spiritual moment----We watched “Joseph Smith, Prophet” yesterday. The

movie depicts a brief history of the work that Joseph Smith did to

restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The movie is only a teeny bit

cheesy but it is mostly powerful. It is amazing to see how much the

early Mormons sacrificed to obey the Lord. I know that Joseph Smith

was a prophet of God and I know that he translated the Book of Mormon.

The Book of Mormon is SO important to our religion. We have to read it

if we hope to gain any understanding of our Gospel.

7/12/16

The last day before P-daY! We are in the middle of a transition right

now. Tonight we will be getting a ton of new Elders and Sisters. Today

was a little lonely. There were only 24 missionaries in the whole CCM

because all the 3 weekers and 6 weekers left. We have been praying for

the new arrivals. I remember how hard my first day here was but I know

that the Lord will bless them.

Our teacher brought a jar of Nutella and we each got a spoon and

passed it around and ate the whole jar in 5 minutes. It was impressive

and tasty. Tender mercy

7/13/16

I LOVE YOU ALL. I am so excited to be out in the field. I love the

people, I love the language, I love my Heavenly Father and I know that

he is sending me so many blessings right now. I know that this is

where I am supposed to be. I love going to the temple every week.  I

miss you all and I love reading your emails. They make me smile and I

think about them throughout the week.

Hermana Christensen

--

Sister Madeline Christensen

Week 2: Seven main points

Dear Familia and Amigos,

I realized that I was probably a little lengthy in my last letter so I

will try and hit the main points.

1) I got a package from Hermana Elise Joyner!!! I think she left it at

the temple and an Elder gave it me at the devotional last night. This

package is full of delish Peruvian snackage and a totally helpful and

spiritual letter. Huge shoutout to the mail from Hermana Joyner. It

came right when I needed it most. Happy Tears. Such a blessing.

2) The food here is still brilll. I am loving the rice. They made flag

cake on the 4th with seriously 3 inches of whipped cream. I think they

put a lot of it on a lot of desserts for the American Missionaries but

hey, I am NOT complaining. I eat chicken and rice every single day but

I have not gotten tired of it

3) The Lord BLESSES missionaries. I am not talking small and

unimportant blessings that are easy to overlook. I am talking miracles

people. I have barely felt homesick. It doesn’t make sense in my brain

because im thousands of miles from my friends and family and I love

you all so immensely but Heavenly Father is looking out for me and

sending me more blessings than I deserve

4) I love you all!!! We work hard all day, every day and I have

learned more Spanish in these 2 or 3 weeks than in my 6 years of

Spanish (it feels like) but we also laugh a lot and have a great time.

I have a fantastic district, I included a picture, and they always

brighten my day. One of the Elders thought a pedicure was a class you

went to.

5) The Book of Mormon is TRUE! If you have not read it, please contact

your nearest Mormon friend and get a free copy. It is the best and

truest book I have ever read. It has brought me so much comfort and

peace and my favorite part of every day is Book of Mormon study time.

6) I joined the CCM choir. There are only 42 sisters and 57 elders so

there are not a ton of us but mostly everyone here is in the choir.

Last night was the first performance since the Choir started on

Sunday. I am so happy to be in the start of such a great tradition. I

love music.

7) I am praying for you all. I can feel your prayers for me and they

have brought me so much comfort. I only have 3 more weeks in the CCM.

I am nervous and excited to be in Arequipa. There are 4 elders from my

district and one other hermana in another district going to Arequipa.

I have heard it is the most beautiful part of Peru. Yay!!

God is real. If I can teach people about what I believe in Spanish

after 2 or 3 weeks, he must be real. If he can help me not to feel

homesick, he is real. I have so much to do to improve myself. But with

Jesus Christ and God, I can do it!! Thanks for all the emails, I wish

I had more time but an hour goes by so quickly!!! Love you all.