Sunday, July 25, 2010

i love p-day

Hello Family and Friends!
well, this week has been a step up from the last one. we actually taught a few more lessons, and finally had the sense to have a member come with us to the Bams for a lesson. It was Awesome. we brought a lady called sis. Smiler. she's a Maori Lady, and she teaches Zumba- i dunno if there's much of that over in the states- but its like a type of dance/ workout thing. apparently pretty fun. but maria had been to a few classes, and so we decided to bring sis smiler. she was a hit. she was able to explain things to them in ways that were just perfect. she even confounded phillip without sounding like she was confounding him! and then she gave us a bunch of advice afterwards- solicited by us, but it was much appreciated. so, Richard, to answer your question, if your missionaries are actually seeking to be their best, advice from you would not only be appropriate, but i'm sure appreaciated as well. i always ask RMs for advice. they always have good stuff. anyway, besides that, we havent really had any new investigators, but we contacted a referral from a member, and turns out that they are recently re-activated J-Dubs. however, we've met them before and they were actually really nice, and we had a very good discussion with them, in that they ended up wanting a book of mormon, and committed themselves to reading! so it was good. hopefully we'll be able to start teaching them soon. sunday, we had an awesome sacrament meeting- good talks. i was asked to give a short testimony and include some personal experiences- its funny how new stuff dawns on you when you bear testimony. you say that you know something, and then all of a sudden, you're like, whoa... i actually DO know that... which means... i know THAT and THAT... and... oh! THAT!! ripple effects are fun. :D
so that was my week. mum had some questions, so i'll answer those.
Are you still spending a lot of time tracting?
yes and no. depends on the day. we've actually kept quite busy this week though.
What service opportunities have you had this past week?
oh, heaps. we helped our EQP re-stump his house... i dunno if thats done at all in the states, but probably not. He lives in what's called a "queenslander house" basically its a one-story house, but raised on pillars to protect against snakes, bugs, roaches, floods, and the like. his house was supported on very old concrete stumps, which he is replacing with steel ones. obviously, this is not the easiest of jobs, as we have jack up the house, break the stump off, dig the rest of it out of the ground, and then dig the hole deep enough for the steel stump to go in, and for the concrete to go in around it. but the best part: we got to use a JACK HAMMER!!! that was fun. :)
Have you done anymore sight seeing?
not really. not much to see in Emerald.
anyway, sounds like yous had a fun week. that hike sounds like fun collin- haha. :P and sounds like your pioneer Day was a good one too. I'm Glad you're having so much fun!
hey, what track did Matthew end up getting at BYU-I?
anyway, thats the week.
by the way! Rochelle, i did NOT forget about your birthday last monday, i just forgot to say something about it... Happy belated birthday! you're 25! Yay! :P glad it was a good day for you. :D
Richard, thanks for the email, its so true that the word repentance is the most hopeful word in the christian vocabulary. i quite agree. :)
ok, well, my time is short. I love yous all, have a good week this week!
love,
Elder Tayler Christensen


Monday, July 5, 2010

Happy Independence Day

Hello my family and my friends! How are we?
well, this week was a good one for me. it wasn't chucked full of lessons or anything, but things were just good. i loved it. we had another lesson with the Bams. we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. they loved that, and maria finally had her "ah ha" moment that she actually HAD to pray about the Book of Mormon. so they'll be doing that this week hopefully. we had a good fast for them yesterday too. so that was nice. we dont have another lesson with them until this coming sunday though, so hopefully that will be a good lesson. we'll see. also, we have gained a lot of trust with the members, and we got like 3 new referrals this week that we will be chasing up either this week or next week. one of them lives in blackwater, which is about an hour away, so we have to wait for the family that referred them to give us a ride. besides that, our week has been pretty low-key. today we actually had a decent p-day though. i learned how to play squash- kinda a watered-down version of racquett ball. small ball, not nearly as bouncy, weird racquets, and lines on the wall that you have to hit between. it was fun, but racquett ball remains the favorite of the two. then we went to the white's house. they're a young couple, and bro. white is the branch mission leader, as well as first councilor in the branch presidency. we played like 5 games of monopoly deal- the card game version of monopoly. it's way fun. and very addicting. but that was our p-day. some funny things that have happened this week... we got threatened by a drunk highschooler- they're on holidays at the moment- but as soon as we stopped our bikes, he hopped back in the car he got out of. we had a good chuckle about that. and yes, dad, we laugh a lot. especially right now with 4th of july- apparently the british call it "good ridance" day. to which i replied, that we could call it the exact same thing. and a few joke arguments ensued. [remember Tayler's companion is British] making fun of each other and ourselves, and just being 20 year old guys. it was pretty funny. and we have a lot of fun with our music- we have some dances that always happen to certain songs- its pretty funny- one of the things that if anyone else saw it, we would be so embarassed we would... i dunno-- swap name tags and hope that worked. :P but yes, we have plenty of jokes and laughs. also, this week we did some more service. we finished building a wall, hanging a door, and finishing a bathroom. it was fun. and with all the service we're doing, i'll be a qualified tradesman by the time i leave emerald. :P pretty funny stuff.
well, it sounds like yous had an awesome time in yosemite. what i would give to be allowed in a POOL. but hey, two years, no big deal. i'll get over it. oh, and the pictures i sent last time... i cant remember exactly which ones i sent, but the once of the writing with light were done with a flash light. sparklers would have been cooler, but we were stuck in the flat that day. we also figured out how to take "ghost" pictures... i'll send a few of them as soon as we finish them. so thats that.
anyway, the joint we're at is about to close, so let me know if i left any questions unanswered, and i'll answer them next week. love yous!
love,
Elder Tayler Christensen


Saturday, July 3, 2010

2 Recent Pictures


Tayler with Pres. and Sister Richards



I guess Tayler hasn't lost his sense of humor in Australia....



June 27, 2010

hello family and friends!
wow, sounds like everyone has been having a blast. that trek sounds like so much fun. i kinda wish i could have gone on another one. but all good. maybe next time i'll get lucky and get to be one of the leaders or maybe i'll just convince someone to let me go, cause i love that stuff. Collin, way to go keeping the christensen rep going at that dance- :P and cara, i bet you were a good ma- i bet your kids just loved you. oh, and by the way i was in the Doty company last time- or as it came to be known, the "bewildered" company. hills are bad, but having to get permission to go through an indian reservation and then having all of them stare at you as you pass through, is pretty nerve racking. :P anyway, this week was really good. we started the week out in Rocky, so that went for like 3 days-ish... we didnt leave until wednesday... so we didnt get any work done until thursday, which was a good day, we had another lesson with the Bam Family. Maria is still just eating up every word, and phillip is getting progressively harder to teach. he's pretty sure he knows everything there is to know, and wont pray about the book of Mormon, which is frustrating. "the word" (the bible) is all he needs apparently. but, we're working on it. we've come up with a few really good things. i finished my atonement study this week as well, and learned a few very important things. when i started it all, my intent was learn more about the atonement, and be able to understand it on a deeper level, and maybe get some deep doctrine out of it. however, i think the most important thing i learned from it was that the atonement is, and is supposed to be, simple. so instead of understanding it deeper, i understood it simpler. which is kinda weird, but i learned to understand it simpler. interesting, that the more you learn about something, the simpler it becomes. and why shouldnt the atonement be simple? the gospel is simple, and if the Gospel is centered on the atonement, then it should be simple too! for some reason, that was like the coolest discovery i have made in a long time. it made me happy. and my testimony of the Atonement has grown so much from it. yes, it's simple, but it is also very involved. I love it though. the more i learn the more want to share it. and funny enough, thats my job. :D so i'm having a ball. but that's basically been the week.
on a more polical note, i heard that Obama just gave like a bit of Arizona to mexico... please tell me that is just a rumor. anyway, before i get carried away with political stuff, i'll just stop it there. i'm glad yous have all had a good week, and no one got hurt. i love you so much! have an awesome week, and have fun in Cali.
love,
Elder Tayler Christensen