Elders Price, Jenkins & Collins

Hey Good Morning from the Philippines:

   This week was a super quick one for me...too quick. We had regular day on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I had to go to Iloilo City for a  leadership training. Elder Tran (who is also training) and I met up and went down Wednesday night. That was my first time spending  time with Elder Tran and he is sweet. We get along well. He came to the Philippines the same time as me. When we got to Iloilo we went to a restaurant called Ramboys which is a meat restaurant like Litson Baboy, Litson Manok and other meats and it was super good. We then slept at some elder’s house in Iloilo. Thursday morning we woke up at 6 and got ready. We then had breakfast at the Stake Center in Arevalo, Iloilo. There we had a training which is where all the leaders in the mission are gathered and listen to President and other Elders train us on topics like our missionary purpose, revelation through prayer, revelation through church attendance, etc. for us to apply to help our investigators better. That lasted until about 4pm, Then, Thursday night I worked in the city in an area called Mandurriao, with Elder Lado, who is from Cebu City and is an awesome Elder. 

   Then Friday we woke up at 6 again and got ready, we had another day of training until about 1pm. Then I bought some new shoes since mine were broken (don’t worry about sending me shoes.  I can get them here.) and headed to my area. Then we worked Friday night until yesterday and had a good time. I love seeing all the Elders there like Elders Price, Jenkins and Collins. They are some of my good buddies in the mission.

   My trainee is really sick right now haha.  He has like a flu and he has what’s called “Sore Eyes” which makes your eyes super red and you get lots of eye gunk stuff haha.  It’s no good! I feel bad for him.

   Sounds like you guys had a good time speaking in sacrament. Missionary work is a super good topic. It needs to be done more by members! To answer your question mom, I feel like there are a ton of reasons I was called here. Too many to count. I definitely needed to be humbled and see the circumstances of the people here. I have met people that have helped and inspired me. I have learned from my leaders, I have learned to appreciate air conditioning, vehicles, American food, the cleanliness of American places, American medical resources, on and on haha.  But I have so much more to compliment the Filipino people about! They are so great. That’s all! 

   All the vacation things sound fine mom, I am easy to please so don’t worry about me. I think Park City sounds great. All is well here and I am enjoying my time and training a new missionary. We are seeing great success in our area and we will continue to work hard. Love you all

Elder Garrett Christensen

Hey Papa:

   What’s going on with you all? Things here are great and we are enjoying our time here in Pototan. My companion and I are doing well together and have good work right now so we are happy! That is funny that you cried in church haha wuss...just kidding.  I laughed when I read that. That is great you put a lot of work into your talk.

   I am glad Ipson is doing well at Dixie. He is such a good coach, I loved him. The tournament sounds fun. Next week is the one you are looking forward to though huh? When Spanish Fork will go down and wreck Dixie again haha. Are they good again this year or not as much? 

   Well dad I miss you lots and thank you for everything. I assume there is no turkey hunt for you this year? I can’t believe Britt is twelve this week and you will be married for thirty years this week! It’s crazy. I love you lots dad and hope all is well!

Love Elder Garrett Christensen

His Will Be Done

Hey Guys,
   This week went great and super quick for Elder Miano and I. We are doing so well and it is fun to help him and watch him adjust to the life here. It is so weird when he asks me questions about like transportation, food, the way to do small things, what groceries to buy, etc. It really is like I am his father. It is crazy how all the things he asks me, I was asking not too long ago!
   They only difference with being a trainer is two extra hours of study everyday which is okay....but long haha. We have learned a lot though so it’s all good. Our work is going great here. We have six investigators with a date for baptism.
   We had kind of a crazy thing happen this week which was one of our members calling us at night and asking us to go way far away to bless her father. He had a really bad sickness and his liver was messed up. So we cancelled our appointment and went to her house. I blessed him. About two hours later, he died. I felt really bad, like my blessing didn't work or something but then I was studying The teachings of the Prophets: Spencer W. Kimball and it talked about how God limits our abilities to bless the sick. Like for example he talked about how if he had boundless priesthood power, he would have healed Christ so he didn't have to suffer for us, but if he did that, God's eternal plan would have been frustrated. I felt comforted that that is what I needed to hear. I am only a person and even though I have the priesthood of God, His will be done.
   The members here are great and helping us a lot. We went out to a far place this week called Mina which is another municipality but part of our area. We visited inactive members who were like the pioneer members in our area but now they live far away from the church so they don’t go whether it’s due to lack of money or just being lazy, I'm not sure.
   To answer your quiz question mom, I'm not sure because there are tons of witnesses of Christ in the Book of Mormon, but for my answer I will say Lehi, Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, Ether, and the sixth I am unsure of haha. Hopefully I am close or that will be embarrassing as a missionary :)
   Sounds like you guys are all having fun at home, I am glad things are going well and everyone is happy. I love getting to the computer shop and reading everyone is doing well. It makes my week. I just won’t worry about school I guess. Except my only question is this...Say I decide that I want to go to the U. Would one semester at Dixie just mess me up? Or would it be better just to go straight to the U? I have heard it is lots harder to get good scholarships (which I could at the U because of my grades) after you already went to a different college for a couple semesters? Like the U would rather give them to new freshman than to a transfer from Dixie State haha. I don't know.  We will see when time gets closer.
   I won’t be able to work in my area much this week because Wednesday through Friday I have a leadership training in Iloilo so we will see how the work goes this week, hopefully we can still help all of our peeps progress!
   I have two requests also. I am getting close to finishing my journal! I need a new one. It doesn't have to be fancy :) also, my retainer that I use at night isn’t like all the way broken but like where my molars are (since I grind my teeth at night) is worn away, so there is a hole there in my right molar. Will you please call Doc. Simister and see if I should get one made here or just wait it out to get home in a few months. All the rest is in good shape just the hole in the molar section from grinding my teeth. Also I am going to buy some new pants for proselyting so will you please see if I have any money left in my account? I am sure I do but I don't know how much?
   Anyway the work is going well and please tell Joann Certonio happy birthday for me :) I received a letter from her a while ago but haven't had time to write her back. I will try soon! Also Happy Anniversary to Brian and Lisa!
I Love You All,
Elder Garrett Christensen

Hey Papa, Thanks for the e-mail!
   Things here are excellent. To be honest, I pay a member to do my laundry (handwashing is only for the greenies in the mission haha) :) but she is really poor so I feel good helping them out by paying her to wash my clothes. My health is great. No problems at all except my retainer thing. I could get a pretty nice one made here. In Iloilo City they have good doctors and orthodontic guys. My stomach is good, my eyes/contacts are good as well. Thanks for the info on college football. I am not really worried about social life haha what do you think I'll be socially awkward when I get home??!! Rudie! haha jk:)
   I love baseball season, the second best season to be alive (right after fall). How do you think Dixie will do this year? Anything new going on with them?
   Regarding going home early or late, I am still leaning...early. I think as long as I work my hardest every day I can, I will have no problem going in October.  It is the missionary department that wants us to choose so I will work my best every day and if I go home October I will have no regrets. Either way it will be two years of service. Unless President Pagaduan talks me out of it haha...Thanks for all your support and help Dad, I want you to know you mean a lot to me.
Love you,
Elder Garrett "sharpshooter" Christensen

E-mail chatting  with Mom-

Elder Christensen - Yeah the thing is where ever I go to school, I will be able to get a pretty good scholarship and what I have been thinking is that I really want to do Med. School at the U.  I don’t want to go far away like Uncle Court did, so I wonder if I went straight to the U of U, if it would help my chances of getting into the U Medical school? What do you think?...No I have not gotten my package yet, maybe tomorrow I will?

Mom - I've never heard that scholarships work that way. I'll check into it. My guess is that you'll save a ton by living at home and going to Dixie for a while. I'll find out how it works.

Elder Christensen - Alright I will just trust you I guess! I think there are lots of pros and cons of both places haha, but I will just see in about seven months haha :) fast huh mom?

Mom - Yes, 7 months will fly. Just focus on your mission. It will all work out.

Elder Christensen - I know it will fly. I am more focused now than I ever have been, I won’t worry about school or anything. It will all work out :) I gotta get off, I love you all tons! Halong!
Elder Garrett

Results of Faith

Hey Everyone:

   Some cool things happened this week. First, I got called by President Pagaduan to be a trainer. Second, my trainee is an Australian haha. He is way rad! His name is Elder Miano and I got some pictures so I could show you. He is cool and trying his best to learn quick. Training is way different. Instead of two hours of study every day we have 4! We have one hour for personal, two hours for companion and one more hour for language. It takes us out of our area and gives us less time to actually be proselyting but it must be effective or the Prophet would not have implemented it into the missions for training. It is a little more tiring too because I have to do everything haha 100% of talking, teaching, planning, etc., but it is a way good experience. So I am still in Pototan and will probably be here for a while longer! Which is fine since the work is going well. We had three investigators at church this week which is less than expected but isn't too bad. A couple we are teaching, that has baptismal dates, were out of town so they weren't able to go to church.

   Yes mom, they all believe in "aswangs" here which is similar to like a witch. I have not seen one nor believe in them, but what people do is use a clothes pin to hook a piece of garlic to the babies clothes so “no aswangs will steal them” haha...They also sometimes hook an empty bullet shell to the babies so "no strangers will steal them" haha. They are way superstitious here.

   To be honest, I have no idea yet what to do about college. Taylor is trying to talk me into Dixie and Kyle is trying to talk me into the U. They both have pros and cons. I am thinking football is slowly losing its light to me haha. I love it, but am not as sure as I used to be that I want to play. I have a while left so I still have time to decide better.

   We had a cool experience last week where we had a member whose sister was supposed to be having a baby but was in severe pain and wasn't able to deliver due to whatever problems I'm not sure. They called us and asked us to give them a blessing. So we went (like 30 minute drive away) and got to the hospital to find them in the center of tons of other patients. It was not a private room. So we said oh well and gave her a blessing. We then left and didn't really think about it much again. Then when Sunday came around, our member told us that her sister gave birth to a healthy baby girl about two hours later, which they say was a miracle! It was sweet to bless someone using the power that is entrusted to me and seeing results of faith.

   That is so awesome about The Reber's call and I will write them before they leave! That is also cool that Dallen will fly to them before he goes home. He will be fluent in Spanish too. so the language will be different but that will be cool.

   Thank you all for your opinion on whether to go home early or late. After thinking about all your suggestions and stuff and also my feelings I am leaning towards October but I will talk to President and finalize things before I tell you a final answer. The vacations and stuff sounds awesome though mom! I am so excited for all of it and to spend time with all of you! I love you all!

Elder Garrett Christensen

Hey Papa:

   How is everything going? I am glad you enjoyed some high school basketball. That is over which means its baseball time! I love baseball time. I have a question for you though regarding football. I don't know if I want to play when I get home? I really wanted to when I started my mission but over the months I kind of see that it would be fun but do I REALLY want to? I obviously know I won’t play like pro football so it would almost be like just to get in shape and have fun but it would take away from my studies and stuff and I have realized how important studies and stuff like that. Kind of like it’s time to grow up but I don't know. Did you LOVE college football? Or was it just kind of lame? I want to hear your opinion before I decide whether I will play or not. Because you know when I set my mind to play or not I won’t turn back. It’s crazy that time is so fast and in only 7 months I will probably be home (assuming I go home early). I am excited but nervous. Thanks for everything. I love and miss you lots. I thought of Clint Madsen this week haha. How is he doing? Is he is Argentina or Brazil? I couldn't remember?

Love your son,

Elder Christensen
All the vacations sound awesome Mom. Mexico sounds so good. Just to relax and sit on the beach haha. Also I can't wait to snowboard and go to South Dakota. Thanksgiving sounds fun. I hope lots of the family will be there so I can see them. I am proud of you Mom and love you lots! I am getting off now! Love you more!

October 10 or November 21

Hello guys, This was a good week. We worked hard on Tuesday and Wednesday then on Thursday we had a zone conference so we went to the city for that day. Afterwards we had a baptismal interview and went on splits so I worked in a city called Passi. We learned this week that we will have a decision to go home on October 10 or November 21 so I guess I want to hear all your thoughts on that so I can make a good decision of what to do. I can see some pro's and con's with both of them but I want you all to e-mail me what you think and your reasoning so I will be ready in a couple weeks when they ask me to make a final decision. Saturday we had the baptism of L M which went well except there weren't very many of us there at the service. Also we had a problem with the water at the church so the font was only like half way. I baptized her and it went well, no problems. Then on Sunday we had Stake conference in Iloilo City. It went well and an area seventy was there, Elder Neilsen. He spoke and it went really well. Afterwards we had to go to the mission home though so President could do and interview to my companion, so we ate there and spent the night in Iloilo. This morning we woke up at 5:50 and went to play basketball with a bunch of Elders from the city. Elder Jenkins was there and about 20 of us total but it was good to talk to them. We then did another interview this morning and then we are good now so we are e-mailing then we will go home to Pototan. Your lesson sounds funny mom. I bet you felt embarrassed but it is okay. One story that happened to me was in my first few weeks here in the field nobody wanted to teach the Sunday school lesson so I volunteered. I kept talking but I was only a few weeks old in the field so my language was bad. I kept saying blessings come from God but the word I was using for "come" was a bad word and not the one I should have. Everyone started laughing at me and then they explained that I had said the word wrong and not to say it again. It was okay though. Regarding my box, I still can’t really think of anything I need. Maybe some ties would be cool? It gets lame wearing the same ones over and over. I bought shoes earlier, but they were only 640 pesos which is like 15 dollars for two pairs. I also got your newsletter thing mom! You are an outstanding business woman! I also got a letter from the Reber family with American money in it! I think I am going to save it since it is the first American money I have seen since I have been here. Please tell them thank you for me! Love you all lots,Elder Garrett Christensen Hey Dad what’s up there in God’s country? Things here have been good and we are enjoying the work in Pototan. It sounds like Britt is super busy and you are dragged into taking her everywhere. That is why you need to move to the Philippines, they have jeepneys and tricycles that will drive you around. My health is great, no problems there. I am still pumped for the work and we are working hard. Thank you for the updates on the sports. I love hearing about things. I miss you lots Dad and can’t wait to see you again soon!Love Your Boy,Elder Christensen Mom, What even is president day? Sounds like a lame excuse for a day off hehe :) I loved the Dixie elder and that’s awesome about the Rebers mission call speaking Portuguese. Good luck to them. What do you think about Oct. 10 versus Nov. 21....be honest!..It’s a big decision haha. Yeah that is good that you get to go to the missionary mom dinner thing...... Please tell Grandma Sherry that I love her and I hope she gets better soon and I will be praying for her personally! Love you and we are heading out! Love you most! Elder Garrett

Rice Fields

Yes, that's all rice. That is us walking to Lalyn's house.

I Have a Driving Spirit to Succeed

Hey, what’s going on everyone? This week went well. I guess I will start off with some pretty major news that we heard this week. My mission will be undergoing a new transfer schedule to better accommodate the missionaries from the MTC. This means there will be a nine week transfer in July(usually they are only six weeks) which means instead of me going home on Oct. 31, It will be Nov. 21. This is not 100% confirmed but that’s what it sounds like so I thought I would let you know. I am thinking they might give us a choice though if we want to extend to Nov. 21 or go early on Oct. 10 which would mean I could hunt and stuff haha :) but we will see, it is just tentative since we only have a little information about it. Tomorrow is Valentines and will be just a normal day of course (yes, they do celebrate Valentines here). We then have zone conference on Wednesday so we will talk to President and Sister Pagaduan. I think I forgot to tell you but last Sunday Elder Verzo, a branch missionary and I were walking on the highway and a van pulled up to us, it was President and Sister Pagaduan. It was funny. To be honest, we were disappointed yesterday. We only had two investigators at church and we were expecting like 7-8 so that sucked. We have some sweet investigators though and we will have a baptism this Saturday of Lalyn. She takes notes at every lesson so she "won't forget and can always read them to apply them in her life." so of course that is sweet. We have a huge area so it is super hard to travel and we spend lots of money on riding. There should be four Elders here in Pototan I think since there used to be but now there are less missionaries in our mission so they had to pull them out. I am liking the members and the area a lot though. We have one family that feeds us on Tuesday and a different one that feeds us on Saturday so they are supportive. I also really like our branch mission leader. His name is Phillip Michael Llavanes(nickname is Panoy) and he is rad. Regarding the earthquake. It wasn't as bad here. No building were falling or anything, everyone was just on the street and saying "linog" or "lindol" which are the words for earthquake. It wasn't a big thing though. The power was out but then in a few hours it came back on. I got a package from Nicaragua this week from Elder Tay Web. It was a letter and a Nicaragua soccer jersey! It is way sweet and I have been wearing it around a lot. He is the man, I haven't talked to him forever since letters take forever and also I can’t e mail him...I miss all my buddies. And all my family, but I love the Philippines and my time is going fast and slowly expiring so I will keep working hard! Talk to you all next week. Halong kamo ah! Your Boy, Elder Garrett Christensen Hey pops! What’s going on there in Utah? Things here in God's country are going well. We are having pretty successful work. I noticed in my Patriachal blessing it says I have a driving spirit to succeed, I think that comes from you. You have taught me that and it helps a ton here in the mission. It would be super easy to be an average missionary and do decent work until you go home. But since I have that driving spirit and want to succeed I feel myself work harder and harder every week. I love it here. It’s hard sometimes and obviously I have times where I am thinking "I could be at Lake Powell right now" or "I could be on a hot date right now" but it is all so worth it here and is going very well. Thank you for the updates on everything. I think it would be so sweet to get home Oct. 10 and hunt and stuff with you all! Also see three more weeks of NFL haha, but we will talk about that when it gets closer. I miss you lots and love you! Elder Garrett Mom, that is awesome you are having success at the business. You are awesome mom! Regarding the package…. hmmmm... I am really not sure.. I feel like I don’t NEED anything....maybe just like Reese’s chocolate? To be honest whatever you put in there will be great. Maybe some cookie mix, also pictures are cool if you have any new ones....just of things like, your new office or new things in the house. When you are on a mission it’s like even the smallest changes at home are a big deal haha so pictures are always sweet. But you can just e mail those haha. Maybe jerky! And whatever else haha. I love you momma, I gotta go :) I will e mail you next week! Bye Bye! oh and razors! haha thank you...Love you most! Bye

Earthquake - I am Loving the Mission and All the Things I'm Learning

Hey what’s up?! This week was sweet! That is all I really have to say. I will start off by saying I am sorry I am late to e-mail. The reason is because we just had a category 6 earthquake here in Iloilo City! It was nuts, the first earthquake I have even been in. We had to come into the city today (like an hour from our house) because I broke my permanent retainer! I didn't really break it but just a piece of glue fell off so it was loose. When we got into the city at 11:30 am was when the earthquake happened so all the power got shut off so the dentist couldn't do anything since he had no power, so we went and shopped at a mall for a few groceries (stuff we can’t get in our town) since the mall had a generator, but all the other stores in town are closed, along with the schools and everything! But then around 3 the power came back on and I went to the dentist, got my retainer fixed then now we are e-mailing from Iloilo. This week we had a ton of success, we were able to exceed a few of our teaching goals and we had four investigators at church. One is 18 and lives with a member. Her father got shot when she was younger and her mother left her. She always expresses her thankfulness to us when we teach her. She will be baptized on the 18th. One married an inactive member and we have been trying to reactivate the guy but he is super hard, but the wife is really interested and she is due with a baby on the 24th so she might have her baby soon. The other two were new investigators that we tracted and have taught. One story that happened this week was on Thursday we had an appointment at 8:30 so we taught it and then it was 9:15 and we were quite a ways from home but there were no tricycles to take us home that late so we started walking fast to get home. When it was 9:25 we realized we weren't going to make it so we started running. After like 500 yards I realized Elder Verzo was slowing down so I grabbed his bag and stuff and we kept running! We probably ran about a mile or maybe a little less and we made it at exactly 9:30 which is our curfew. It was a good feeling being there on time and not breaking the rule. I was sure sweating like crazy though. My study this week I saw a quote I love..."We should begin to understand that God's ways are infinitely superior to our ways, and that his counsels, although they may seem to call for sacrifice, are always the best and the safest for us to adopt and carry out."-Wilford Woodruff. I love that because we all make sacrifices but to be honest they are not because we reap the blessing of the sacrifice. I love the mission right now and am doing SENSATIONAL :) All My Love, Elder Garrett Christensen Hey poppa: Things are going way well here in Pototan although I am not there right now haha. We will go back later this evening on a jeepney (I hate jeepneys haha. They are made for people that are like 5 foot 6 and tiny so I am giant and they are uncomfortable.) But it’s okay haha. How is your work going? Is it still okay weather or are you getting hot now? I can’t believe at the end of this summer I'll be home. The time is crazy out here. I feel like I just wrote you yesterday but soon we will be talking on Skype again in May. I am loving the mission and all the things I am learning. I feel thankful for you everyday and all the things you have taught me. I can’t wait to get home and serve you guys and show you all my appreciation to you. Keep up the good work and I love and miss you tons! Your son, Elder Garrett Christensen