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