This last week and a half has stretched me a lot. I feel like I`ve been in Puerto Varas for so long, even though it`s been less than 2 weeks.

All the missionaries in Puerto Varas (my district and the zone leaders who are part of another district) are very faithful and hard working. Very interesting how one of the sisters’ sectors is just full of investigators with baptismal dates and lots of great appointments, the other sisters’ sector is kinda dead. They`re both wonderful sets of sister missionaries. It`s evidence of what PMG teaches about a successful missionary. It doesn`t have to do with the apparent results, it`s the determination to invite that matters.

I`m really happy with my district, and our own sector is starting to have more good investigators. On Monday, we contacted a reference. We`ve only gotten to teach them once because the wife is being hospitalized right now (something to do with her stomach). They´re a great family and they`ve been asking all the right questions. He has never been baptized and has said, "There are so many churches and people teaching different things, one doesn`t know who to believe." Exactly what the message of the Restauración del Evangelio de Jesucristo answers.

The members are eager to work, but they don`t have much time. Several of them work in a frutería (like a small grocery store that just has fruits and vegetables) and they work long hours 6 days a week. It`s hard because we want them to have opportunities to teach with us.

We had intercambios (exchanges) this week with the zone leaders. I was in Elder Jones´s sector and we taught lots of great people. There was one lesson where the people didn`t really understand our claim that this is Christ`s only true and living church. At the end of the lesson, I felt prompted to invite them to be baptized. I thought "But it`s too late. We`ve already been here for awhile and it`s  not good when the lessons drag out too long. She`ll probably say something like "I`ve already been baptized" so what good would that do?"

 

I did invite them. There was a pause. She said exactly what I feared. "I`ve already been baptized." I didn`t like responding to this before, because I don`t like offending people. The truth is that baptism is given by Christ, so it needs to be done in the way he taught by someone with the proper authority. That authority is only found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

 

She asked "Does that mean my baptism wasn´t valid?" It made me think of "The District" (a video they use to train missionaries that shows real missionaries teaching real investigators). In "The District" the missionary responded that although it was a great gesture that he wanted to serve God, it wasn`t exactly valid. The man being taught in "The District" got really offended and stopped investigating. We responded similarly (Elder Jones helped so much with this part). I showed her my priesthood line of authority. The lesson extended an extra 45 minutes, so we were in there almost 2 hours.

 

I apologized to Elder Jones after the lesson for having done the invitation, but he told me it was exactly what they needed. He said something along the lines of, "If you didn`t notice, she was really thinking about it, and she`ll be thinking about it the rest of the night. She`ll wonder if her baptism really was valid, and she has faith and real intent, she`ll discover the truth." It was a great learning experience for me. When in doubt if you should invite someone to be baptized, do it.

We had a stake priesthood meeting on Sunday. We`re part of the Puerto Montt stake, so we travelled there. It was cool because I got to see lot`s of friends from my first sector. Esteban Espinosa gave a great talk, along with my old bishop. An area seventy spoke and I ended up playing piano because the person who was going to do it didn`t show up. I could only play one of the 3 hymns the wanted me to play, so everyone sang acapela for the other 2 hymns. Max, if you want to prepare for your mission, learn hymns on the piano :) I can only play 4 hymns confidently (just enough for a sacrament meeting).

I love you all :D I had my first interview from the other side of the desk last week. (as a district leader I interview people who want to get baptized). I was pretty nervous about it. She`s called Veronica and she is really smart. She`s read a lot of the Book of Mormon and she want`s to get baptized even though she doesn`t have any support from her family (her sister is way against it). Keep Veronica in your prayers.

I love you all so much :D

-Elder Christopherson

Connor's new home in Chile -- Puerto Varas

 

Note from Mom: I got a little behind, so I'll combine 2 emails here -- May 5 and May 12.

 

May 5, 2014

You know... I was once shocked to see bloody cow skulls and rib cages in the street, but that`s become a normal sight for me now. I have no idea why they dispose of them that way.

Miriam`s baptism went well! I was pretty nervous the whole time. We started even later than Isaboth`s baptism. This time it wasn`t our fault. No one in the branch presidency showed up and we had to call them. We sang hymns as we waited. Miriam was beaming when she came out of the water. She told us that she felt lighter after, like a big burden had just been lifted. She`s awesome :D

It`s funny, I can remember the history of an obscure Bible story, answer complex doctrinal questions, and solve big calculus equations, but I can`t remember to bring dry clothes to a baptism. Typical me.

It was weird baptizing someone for the first time. It left me with that same eerie feeling I had when I first got to BYU or graduated high school or went to the temple where I think, "Wow.... that was it. I`ve known my whole life that I was going to do that and now it`s here." I don`t know why, but I really don`t like that feeling. I think marriage will feel more that way than anything else.

I`m flying to Puerto Varas this Miericoles (Wednesday) to be a district leader. I`ll be with an Elder Dennis from Manti, Utah. I`ve heard that Puerto Varas is very touristy. It`s beautiful, right at the edge of a lake. On the other side of this lake is Volcàn Osorno :D I also hear it rains a ton in Puerto Varas (basically, anywhere north of Chaitèn rains a lot). I hear Puerto Varas has a heavy German influence and that I`ll eat lots of sweet pastry type food (yum yum).

I love you all! Have a great week!

May 12, 2014

 

Have I mentioned that the computer puts little red lines below almost everything I type because the spellcheck is set to Spanish?

Random note, could you send me your no-bake cookie recipe? I wanted to follow the example of Elder Jacob Clarke ;)

Max, I`m going to send you an email after this one. Check your inbox.

Thanks a bunch Sister Sampson and Sister Rodriguez. Me ayudan recordar que hay tantos personas quien me miran como ejemplo. Gracias por su fe y diligencia en el barrio. Jocelyn Haddock, I remember being your home teacher. It`s hard to believe how much you´ve grown. Keep being a light to the world and love everyone. Brinley, you asked if you should serve a mission. Pray a lot and choose the right. When the time comes, you´ll know what the Lord wants you to do. And although there are some days I would love to sit on the couch and watch a movie, I don´t miss it all that much. There are so many other great things to do here. Bailey Woods, you are right. Heavenly Father has blessed me SO much (imagine me with my arms stretched out as wide as I can). Pray every day and do something EXTRA nice to someone every day. (Make sure these girls see this. Thanks.)

Well. I`ve already talked a little about this with my family on our Mother's Day Skype, but this week has been absolutely nuts. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. I`m a district leader in a district of 6 missionaries. The sisters in the other ward are doing great (pray for Veronica, Cristina, and Constanza, who each have baptismal dates in the other ward), but the work in our ward is slow. I`m seeing how the Lord qualifies those he calls and how He always provides everything we need to work. The Zone Leaders have helped a ton and have been very wise in their councils, our ward mission leader is very motivated (even when he works more than 13 hours a day, 6 days a week), the bishop is willing, and the missionaries are hard working. 

To hasten the work of salvation in the ward, we`re going to launch 2 big programs in the ward that will be AWESOME!!!

1. Missionary Agendas: The ward mission leader made booklets for several families in our ward. The booklets include inspiring scriptures and spaces to write names of people who the family can help edify and share the gospel. It`s got little check boxes next to each name for "They know you´re members of the church", "Invited to church", "Dedicated copy of the Book of Mormon given", "Lessons taught with missionaries", "Baptized", and "Temple." We give each family their own personal booklet. We will visit each family each week to follow up (Elder Ballard April 2014) and help them overcome trials.

2. Fun Friday: We want to have an activity in the chapel for the whole ward EVERY Friday night. The idea is to build animo (excitement) and unity in the ward. It`ll be a good opportunity to invite friends and it`ll become part of the ward culture. There will also be food, which is the great motivator of all church activities.

The work will be very different as we work on these programs because we`ll be visiting lots of active members and not as many less active members or investigators, but I know that these programs will result well. Why do I know this? Because the way that these programs were planned was through prayer and revelation. We have felt by the Spirit that this is what we should do. Nothing in the Lord`s work progresses if not by prayer, fasting, and revelation. We`re ready to put this yoke upon us and work.

I`m feeling more consecrated and I love it! I'm excited to work with my new companion, Elder Dennis. I testify of Christ and in His Mission.

I LOVE YOU ALL :D :D :D : D :D

-Elder Connor Christopherson

 

I love working in Coyhaique. Every week I`m a better person and we meet new people to teach. However, I can`t help but escape the feeling that I`ll be transferred next week. I`ll know soon. 

May I just say that daylight savings was really awesome :) The only problem is that now it`s completely dark before 7:00pm. When I arrived in Coyhaique, the sun was still up after 9:00pm.

We had a district conference this past weekend, which is like stake conference but smaller. It was WAY better than any stake conference I had ever been to. Actually, the talks were pretty normal, the music was good (it was nice singing with a piano with more people), but what made the conference so incredible was that every session ended with President Rappleye teaching (because mission presidents preside over districts). He`s an incredible teacher! He taught the Plan of Salvation so clearly and with humor and very spiritual and memorable and awesome! The way he taught put the way I teach to shame. I learned a lot from it.

I noticed that President Rappleye used the scriptures as the primary fountain of the teachings, something that Preach My Gospel says we should do, but I`ve been struggling to do well. He taught with a whiteboard, which makes me want to buy a little whiteboard ASAP.

In the priesthood session, he taught about councils (like ward council, stake council, council of the first presidency). I never realized how central councils are in the church. It`s how the church is governed, and it`s how revelation for a group is received. President said that the most important councils in missionary work is that between two missionary companions united in searching the will of the Lord. The most important councils in the church are those between husband and wife (the kids can get involved too sometimes, making it a family council). There are no bad ideas in councils because bad ideas help stimulate the good ideas. Everyone supports one another to make it all work. I feel like I understand the structure of the church so much better. It`s inspired and could not have been better made by man. The church truly is guided by revelation.

In the Sunday general session, President Rappleye invited Miriam (the one we`re going to baptize next week) to come and bear her testimony without telling her before he was going to do that. He also invited two missionaries to bear their testimonies (which gave Miriam time to think about what to say). That decision to invite Miriam to bear her testimony was SO INSPIRED! It resolved so many problems. She had expressed before that she never wanted to give a talk or bear her testimony in front of everyone, so this was a very good push. President used what Miriam said in his talk (she said she would try to be a good member of the church and that she`d put forth her effort) and taught that putting forth your effort is the essence of the Gospel. We don`t go to church looking to receive, although we certainly receive much at church. We go to church looking to bless others. We are to turn outward and lose ourselves. He who loses himself will find himself. Such a great spiritual high :D

On a fun note, we were waiting for a collectivo with a member who recently returned from his mission. We saw a man with one of those collars that catholic priests use. He walked into a house on the other side of the street. The member with us told us we needed to give him a Book of Mormon to him. As it turns out, this man was the Archbishop of the Aysen Region. The head catholic leader guy of the whole región! (A región is like a state in the USA.) The member was very good about presenting us to him (he had talked with him before because he`d studied in a catholic school), and I bore my testimony and gave him the Book of Mormon. The archbishop was very polite. I`m not sure he`ll read it, but you never know.

I`m short on time, but I also wanted to talk about the Escuela Agricola. President Zamudio (our branch president) is a teacher at a local high school. He actually lives on campus because he used to be the director. He invited us to come help teach English in some of his classes and it was fun :D The idea is that they see us as friends and not strange Mormon missionaries. The school is absolutely beautiful with lots of tall trees. It`s got a very outdoorsy summer camp feel (it`s not IN the city, kinda like Tesoro High School). All the schools in Chile have uniforms.

I love you all so much! Keep learning and serving one another! Put God first in everything!

-Elder Connor Christopherson

PS: Did I mention that we found Elder Holt’s white shirts, but not the bag. I still haven`t a clue how I lost the bag.

PSS: For the package, I think all I really need is that extra inside cover thing for my sleeping bag (so I can always have a clean one). Don`t spend too much money on me. You can wait for when I`m in college to do that ;)

Miriam and Eduardo's wedding

Tommy baptized someone in Spanish before me? Who would have guessed :P

Well, my first time getting wet (I mean in a baptismal font and not the rain) comes in 2 weeks. Miriam and Eduardo got married. YAY!!! (see photo) The baptism was planned for next weekend, but a district conference has been announced for next week with President Rappleye. We`ll need to wait till 3 de Mayo, which doesn`t concern us much because she´s been coming to church for a long time and that won`t change anytime soon.

 

There have been big fires in Valparaiso, Chile a week ago and over a thousand houses were burned down. Keep them in your prayers.

To answer grandma`s questions. ":D" is a sideways smiley face. I use it instead of ":)" because to me it looks a lot happier :D :D :D

 

All members in Chile go to the temple in Santiago, which is a long way from here. I think the members of Coyhaique Alto (my branch) go once a year, and it`s a big deal coordinating it all. It`ll be good when the temple in Concepción is completed. The church released a painting of what it will look like and it`s SO much more nice looking than the temple in Santiago.

I found the scarf Sister Webber gave me. It in the house of a part member family.

I love you all very much! Every day brings challenges. I see my weakness more and more every day and I try to harness that sorrow to make changes. I`m really bad at completing the goals I make, but I just have to keep making them so I start completing at least some of them and with that I can progress. Keep making good choices. Center your lives around Christ.

-Elder Connor Christopherson

PS: Another sheet for the inside of my sleeping bag would be good, but it doesn`t need to be very thick. My sleeping bag already does a great job keeping me warm.

PPS: Ah! Right! Mother`s day is coming fast and I didn`t even realize it. Brother Rives has good internet, so we`ll try to organize a time over there. It will probably be after church for you. Dad, what`s the time difference right now with the changes in daylight savings time?

April 14, 2014
It got really cold again. There`s been snow on the mountains. In May, we`ll be able to start using our firewood. We have to wait so we don`t use it all before winter. Every house of missionaries (as far as I`m aware) has 5 square meters of firewood. We got a good deal for the best quality :D

Good news! Miriam and Eduardo have an official date for their marriage :D :D :D We have the baptismal date and she asked that I do the baptism :D I`ve never baptized anyone before (well, at least not the first part in the water).

CONGRATULATIONS -- Madison Mittleman and Megan Baker for your mission calls and a very special congratulations for Megan Mittleman, who got called to one of the ten best missions in the world (because there are 10 missions in Chile, Osorno being the best ;) You will eat and love empanadas (meat and cheese in folded dough which is deep fried) and sopaipillas (basically deep fried dough) and will gain a lot of weight :D YAY! Oh! I almost forgot cumpletos. They`re like hot dogs, but better because they put mayonnaise, tomato (not ketchup), and munched avocado on it and the bread is better. I don`t know if it`s that way up north as well, but we generally eat lots of meat and rice because there`s a lot of cattle. You will learn a dialect of Spanish called "Castillano." Actually... that`s what they call the Spanish of South America, but "Chilanismo" is its own language all together. There are many modismos (idioms) and they use different words (for example, avocado is palta, banana is plátano, beans are porotos). Chileans also say "po" at the end of sentences, which acts as a sort of period (I don`t use it because it sounds a little rude to me. It`s like telling people that everything that needs to be said has already been said and there need not be anymore said so there). I think you`ll get very familiar with public transportation (unless Santiago is different from Osorno). You have the TEMPLE you lucky dog. There will be many many many many dogs. I`ve heard Santiago is hot and smoggy. Got to love Chile :D

What else....

Um... Ya, I just lost my time to type a long email because a lady in this internet café is not very familiar with computers and needed lots of help. Goodness.... why does Yahoo make it necessary to put a phone number when creating a new account? Not everyone has a cell phone.

So, I really don`t like losing things. I don`t know how it happens. I lost my beanie, my wonderful scarf from Sis. Webber, and a bag full of Elder Holt`s white shirts. Honestly, right when winter is starting. Don`t worry about sending me anything. I`ll just buy some when they get in stock (winter clothes will be in stock in a few weeks).

Love you all very very much! I love seeing how so many people are leaving for missions now :D The work of salvation will bless you more than those you teach and invite.

-Elder Connor Christopherson

Note from Mom: I can't resisting adding a funny excerpt from Connor's companion's blog. As many of you know, thanks to Connor's handicapped sister, Kelsi, we live on a constant stream of Pixar, Disney, Sesame Street, and Harry Potter at our house. Elder Holt wrote:

"You know you have an Awesome Companion when he can quote the ENTIRE movie music, sound effects, and all of Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, and I think we are gonna start Lion King next! ;) It makes for quite the exciting proselyting hours!" 

We all chuckled over that one. Glad Kelsi is spreading Pixar joy!

 

April 7, 2014

Thanks for the Easter package :D I felt sick after so much candy in conference, but I`m glad for the love :) You`ve been picking out really good ties :)

This week, we`ve discovered bushes that are loaded with little pea pods that literally POP to launch their seeds! We walk by hearing the little pops and they have been popping over the period of a few days. It`s pretty cool. They`re black pods with green seeds inside. Could anyone look up what they`re called and where they grow?

(Speaking of silly questions, I got several answers to the ç question, and not one of them was the same ;) , although Maia`s was the funniest (she sent me a Wikipedia article that was clearly written in some language professor’s basement. Didn`t have a clue what it was trying to say.))

Another fun observation of the week. Now that it`s getting dark earlier, and I`m in a city with less light pollution than Puerto Montt, I can see the stars. I noticed that Orion (or is it Orien) is completely upside-down. Weird thinking that it`s not him that`s upside-down, but me on the bottom of the world. The moon is also upside-down :D It waxes and wanes to the right, instead of to the left.

I`ve got 2 minutes now that I`ve got the silly stuff out.

Elder Ballard gave an invitation that every member should study Preach My Gospel. I would like to follow up on that. Study Preach my Gospel! It`s an inspired manual. The Lord will provide opportunities to teach as a member missionary. Don`t be caught unqualified when opportunity taps you on the shoulder. Preach my Gospel will make you more aware about what really is missionary work and how you can help. I`m not speaking to a big group of people collectively. I`m saying this nose to nose to each one of you. Get Preach My Gospel and use it.

I testify of the Savior Jesus Christ :D

Love you all :D

-Elder Connor Christopherson

 

March 31, 2014

Isaboth was baptized! Elder Holt did the baptism (2 times. Forgot the word "yo" the first time). I did the confirmation the next day. I`ve never confirmed anyone before. Neat :)

There were a lot of members of Isaboth`s extended family who came, which is really awesome :) I have photos for next week. I was pretty stressed out about the whole thing because of all the preparation during the day to get the font filled (it takes well over 5 hours to fill). We forgot about the papers that we needed to fill out so the Zone leaders were filling out the form with Isaboth. The branch president and I had a miscommunication and we each thought that the other was going to organize the program (no one had been assigned to speak and the hymns hadn`t be selected). Lots of people trickled in late and with all this chaos, we started the meeting about 40 minutes late.

But everything went well. Isaboth and her family were completely calm the whole time while I was a bit stressed. Isaboth was beaming the whole time :) She`s excited for the branch temple trip in June or July. We visited their house after the baptism and we got to answer some questions that family members had. They`re a really nice family. When Isaboth asked about all her female ancestors for whom she could be baptized, Sandra`s sister was really confused and I was so grateful that I knew how to answer. I`m so grateful for the scripture guides in back that told me exactly where Paul talked about baptism for the dead and I`m so grateful that the spirit reminded me the whole context of the scripture (Paul was using baptisms for the dead to teach about the resurrection. The people already accepted baptisms for the dead but didn`t believe that everyone would resurrect). I`m so excited to see more progress in the family.

I`m so ridiculously excited for General Conference!!! I think conference in itself is a miracle that people are willing to watch 10 hours of conference every 6 months. It`s so awesome!!! Miriam and Sandra both said they want to attend and Sandra invited her sister :D

We`ve met lots of interesting people this week. One I think was a mason (based on the painting of a pyramid with an eye in his house and the way he explained the symbol). He is really smart, but then he said that we needed to be our own savior and that God doesn`t have a body of flesh and bone. Sure, we can`t be saved if we don`t do our part, but it`s only by and through Christ that repentance and salvation is possible. One was a very friendly Jehovah`s Witness who spoke English, and a taxi driver who understood dispensations, the Godhead, priesthood (it was he who mentioned Melquizidec (I think I butchered the spelling on that one)), and the need of a restoration from apostasy, but he didn`t accept the Book of Mormon simply because it calls the Savior by the name Jesus Christ instead of Yhachua. (I studied that a bit more. Yhachua is the same name as Joshua, which is Jesus in Greek). He was so smart, so I was frustrated that he didn`t accept the invitation to pray about the Book of Mormon.

I`m amazed how much the Lord has prepared me with such a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and in His true church that these smart people didn`t faze me. I understood where they each came from with their opinions, but I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ`s church. I know that this was restored through Joseph Smith, a true prophet of God and I know that the book he translated, the Book of Mormon, is the most correct book on the face of the Earth. It is only through the Atonement of Christ that we can be saved.

The whole thing made me think of what Elder Ballard said, "I`m grateful that it`s a loving and merciful Heavenly Father who will decide who will or will not be admitted to His kingdom." I may have misquoted that. You can check me on that (from "Our Search for Happiness") 

Well.... that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I guess my letter to President Rappleye will be very short to day. 

I love you all so much :D Keep being charitable to one another. :D Make sure you know that the Book of Mormon is true.

-Elder Connor Christopherson