Hello November

hello family and friends!
what a week this has been! Cara, i totally forgot to say happy birthday to you this last week! Happy Birthday! i hope it was a good birthday, and from the sounds of it, it was. and you turned 19! i turned 19 while i was at BYUI! it was awesome! and mum sounds like that convention thing was really good! lots big mormon names there. and larry's not doing too well is he? thats not good. hope he gets feeling better. i hope things continue to go well for you dad. soudns like being bishop is bringing you a lot joy, being able to help people, and be an answer to prayers. it always feels good when someone tells you that you are an answer to prayer.

anyway, this week was another frustrating week for me, everyone who we were going to teach baled on us. the sad thing is that they had like no remorse- they literally said, "i'll have to cancel on yous" without any explanation or excuses- ugh so annoying. common courtesy just doesn't seem to exhist anymore. oh well. but we did have a lesson with an inactive girl in the ward. she's the daughter of a couple that just recently became active again. she's been anti before, and hasnt ever really given church the time of day. but we started teaching her daughter the discussions (her daughter is only like 4, but it was a way to indirectly teach her mum). so ashleigh finally sat in on the lessons, and this last week she actually came to church! it was AWESOME!!! she even came to our gospel essentials class. it was way good. so hopefully we'll be able to get her back on track. we're excited to see what could come from that. besides that, i havent really had too much going on this week. it was Elder Prina's birthday on sunday, so that was fun. we just did something at the flat, and had cake and ice cream. it was really good. but that is basically all that happened this week. oh, and i have my cough back, so your prayers on my behalf would be greatly appreciated- i know you all pray for me regularly, and i am so thankful for that- i need all the help i can get. ok well, have a good week, i love you all!
love,
Elder Tayler Christensen

Re-dedicating

Hello My Family and my Friends!

Well, sounds like everyone has had a very fun week! my week was decent, and very spiritual for me. i learned a lot this week, and made a few decisions. so the first thing i know you'll want to hear about is whether or not the extension on my mission got approved- well i'll tell you about that. it's quite interesting. so after i asked president and told yous that i was trying to extend for as long as i could, i began to feel a bit uneasy and not sure it was the right thing to do. i began praying very hard to know if it was really the right thing to do, including in the celestial room in the temple. i didnt have any answer for a while, until friday morning. i was taking a shower of all things, when the answer came. see, i was expecting this spiritual experience with this, the way i usually feel the spirit- that is, with tingles up my spine and goosebumps and the works- what i kept failing to realize was that the spirit works in different ways, not only with different people, but with different times and answers in the same person's life. so im in the shower, and i'm thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons, and then out of nowhere this voice comes into my head- not my voice, which doesnt really happened when i'm thinking- and basically just said something like this: "i gave you your mission call when i gave it to you on purpose- i delayed you coming out because i needed to, but that doesnt mean you get an extension- come home when you're scheduled to come home." and that was that. i wont argue with God. so even though i would love to stay longer, i think God has other plans for me. this was the first time i'd ever felt like i was finally doing what my patriarchal blessing tells me to do- that is to constantly seek the lord's will concerning me throughout my life- finally i understood, and now i'm applying that to myself.

anyway, this week was kinda frustrating in the work side of things. we taught zero lessons to non-members this week, though not for lack of trying. everyone decided to cancel on us, or just not show up. the highlight of the week was the ward halloween party- the first "trunk or treat" party the Mudgeeraba ward has ever had. pretty cool. it was fun, and we got lots of good pictures. i'll have to get them off elder prina though, my camera was dead- oops. so that was fun. church was also pretty good, we had a good lesson about the priesthood in the gospel essentials class, which elder prina and I taught, so hopefully the 2 recent converts from last transfer will be all good with that. besides that, there's not a whole lot to report this week- it was just really frustrating, but elder prina is that man, and has managed to keep himself and me optimistic. i'm glad to be serving with him, it has really made my life easier, and has helped me recover from the stress of Emerald. anyway, thats the week. I love yous all so much! Cant wait to hear from you next week!

Love,

Elder Tayler Christensen

ps- i would attatch pictures this week, but the computers at the liabrary are retarded, and wont let me upload from my camera, so i have to go get a card reader- so there will be photos next week.

Photos from the Gold Coast--New Area

Week and a Half

Hello My Family and My Friends!
what a week and a half this has been (haha, get it? its actually been a week and a half... :P). anyway, it has been a long week. We started the week off pretty good, getting a lot of work done, but we weren't finding anyone, and it was starting to get really frustrating. so we were listening to a recording from Elder Prina's twin who is serving in hawaii, and he recorded almost the whole of a day he referred to as his "windows of heaven day." he basically left at 8am and tracted all day in the rain until 9pm. so we decided to do just that the next day on saturday. so we left at 8am and promptly got called by a less-active member to come help him move a desk. so we went over there, and he fed us breakfast, which was nice. then we spent the rest of the day tracting. we got a lot of weak potentials, the "ya sure, you can come back and see how the reading went" but we knocked on one lady's door, and shared a condensed restoration with her, and she was happy to have us come back this week. while we were at her door, she had a friend inside who lived in the same complex, and so when we finished the rest of the complex we saw that lady go back to her flat which we hadnt knocked yet, so we knocked it too. she came out, and was all excited to see us, we didnt even share anything with her, and she's already inviting us to come back and share the message with her! so we have an appointment with her tomorrow (thursday) and her friend at the same time. so we're really excited about that. well, you wanted to know about Elder prina- he's from detroit, MI but left from provo. he's a way cool guy, with lots of very fun quirks. he's like 6'2" and is a very hard worker. we have had so much fun together so far, and we're looking forward getting lots done this transfer. anyway, you were asking about the letter elder Purser wrote. yes, i knew about it, no, i didnt read it. it was obviously something meant for your eyes only. i had thought of writing a few of my companion's parents, but havent yet- it is a good idea though. and speaking of mail, my flat address, is 16 arbour ave. Robina, QLD 4226. i havent gotten mail in ages! please send lots! :D oh, and the reason the email is delayed this week, is because i got to go to the temple! and that always happens on wednesdays. also, we had interviews with president Langeland. i asked a lot of medical questions, to which he was very helpful, and then i asked a question i've been thinking about for a long time- i asked if i could extend my mission. not heaps, just until my visa expires, which is like 2 or 3 weeks after i would go home anyway. but i decided i wanted to stay as long as i possible could. so he said he would look in to it, and let me know what the area presidency says. so i dunno if that throws any plans off, but that would mean that instead of march 30, 2011, it would be april 16, 2011. so it's not set in stone, but it's in the works- if that throws off some family plans though, let me know, and i'll see what i can do. but i really REALLY want be hear for as close to 24 months as possible, and so an extra 2 weeks sounds really good to me right now. lemme know what you think.

The Gold coast is very nice, and i've enjoyed it here so much! it's a nice change from emerald, and it's closer to the ocean, so it's a little bit cooler, which i'm happy about. you can look up the Gold coast online, it's like the most famous beach in Australia and high up there in the world. i live in robina, so you should be able to find it pretty easy.
anyway, this has been a good week, and i look forward to hearing from ya'll next week!
Love you so much!
love,
Elder Tayler Christensen

Oct. 3, 2010

hello family and friends!

it sounds like you have all had an eventful week! man, its been ages since i went to the beach, that sounds like so much fun! thats definitely on the list of things to do in like 6 or 7 months. oh, speaking of which, 2 milestones happened this week. as of the 30th of september, i have exactly 6 months left on my mission, and by the way, i am the only one who is allowed to talk about that, dont tell me how much time i have left in your emails please! the other one is just kinda funny. as of sunday, elder purser had been out on his mission for as long as i have left to go- it was the "crossover" point. :P anyway, everyone asked about general conference. i dont know exactly when we'll get to see it. its kinda a sticky situation at the moment though... we definitely wont be getting it this next week. possible the next week. BUT, transfers happens this week, so if i get transferred, in all likelihood, i'll miss it in emerald, and since everywhere down south gets it a week after, i'll miss it down there too. so i'm just downloading it, so that if i do get transferred, i can listen to it while i travel down. so that should be good. i got all my bases covered i think. and i know it was awesome, we watched Jefferey R. Holland's talk last night at dinner with the Watene's. it was so good. i loved it. such a contrast from his last 2, but just as powerful. i'm looking forward to listening to the rest of conference.

well, my week was a little bit harder than i had expected. i have some form of pink-eye, thats been bothering me for some time now. i keep getting the antibiotics, but they seem to only be temporary relief. it just keeps coming back. so we'll see if i can get anything else that might be stronger... also, the floods are still out. nothing has really gone down, and 4 WEEKS of RAIN are predicted starting next week. and to be perfectly honest, i would LOVE to be here for it. but we'll see. we had another lesson with Eli this week, and tried to set a baptisimal date, but his parrents said no, so we're thinking of ways we can help them understand how good this will be both for them and for Eli. so hopefully this week we'll be able to do that. we also went to virginia's house again- she's the lady who's partner recently died, and she's been having massive trouble with the estate. we took bro. McKay with us, and he has a law degree, and so he got her all sorted, and on the right track, so she was very grateful. it was really good, and the barrier is basically broken down now, so we are asking her this week if she wants to take the lessons. so we'll see how that goes. and thats bascially been the week. oh, yesterday, we had fast and testimony meeting, and it was so good. i bore my testimony about the savior- i found myself saying things in ways i had never thought of, and it just flowed. it was awesome! i noticed a few of the youth, and one in particular who is pretty wayward, really perk up and listen... it was kind of shocking. but it felt so good, and i felt the spirit confirming everything i said. :D i love it. the church is so true, i cant believe it! anyway, thats the week. I love you all so much! have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Tayler Christensen

Oct. 12, 2010

Hello my Family and My Friends!

well, this has been an interesting week. We weren't able to get a whole lot done due to partly my back, which flared up pretty painfully most of the week, and also to the fact that really everybody cancelled on us. BUT, this weekend, we were able to get 2 new investigators at church, and a referral came through that was pretty strong as well. now here's the problem: i got transferred, as you are already aware, so i wont get to participate in any of that. but, i suppose there's no use crying over spilt milk. anyway, yesterday, at 6:55 my plane left from the Emerald Airport, but there were some complications at the airport before that, in that i was over my weight limit, AND when the mission secretary paid for my ticket, the credit card he used got declined. so, i was in a panic, i called the mission secretary, and he gave the number over the phone, which worked thankfully, and then he just waived the penalties for going over the baggage limit. so it was all sweet. so i got on the plane, with no dramas. an hour and a half later, i was in brisbane, where the missionaries in brisbane city picked me up. i got to stay the night with them, in the flat i was trained in! it was fun! then, we went to transfer meeting, and it was weird driving through brisbane... so many people, lots of cars, big buildings... it sorta scared me. :P anyway, at transfers, i got moved to mudgeeraba (muj-ruh-buh), which is on the Gold Coast. My companion's name is Elder Prina, and he's way cool. he was my district leader when i was in emerald the first transfer, and he was in rocky. he's been out just 6 weeks longer than me, so another one that i would have come out with in march, but with whom i will be coming home. so that should be good. the flat is really nice- small, but well equipped, and very comfortable. we live in walking distance from the library and shopping center, and we have a part-time car! yay! :D so that's pretty much been the week, and as for everyone up in Emerald, i gave them my business cards, and they will be keeping me updated with the happenings there, so i'm happy about that. i was very flattered when some people started crying that i was leaving. i really loved being in Emerald. when we come back, we are going there- and when we do, we'll like double the size of the branch, but thats ok, they'll love it. :D anyway, that was pretty much the week. we dont have a whole heap of time right now because transfers took forever, and gold coast is pretty far away from the city, so p-day is almost over, but next week there will be much more to tell i'm sure! aparrently it's a massive ward down here, so i'm kinda scared about that... but i'll tell yous all about it next week.

love yous all so much!

Rain and Floods

hello family and friends!!!

Cara, your book of mormon discussions are awesome. i'm so glad you get to study the book of mormon the way you are. it really is the best text book on life there is. it just doesnt get any better than that. i had the opportunity to prepare a talk this week on the book of mormon. it was going to be awesome, and i did heaps of reading and preparing for it, but then i found out on sunday that i was the back-up, so i didnt end up giving it, but i LOVED preparing for it. i learned so much. i focused on 1 nephi 19:23- the likening scriptures one. and then i talked about the 2,000 stripling warriors. in the heat of battle, they "observed to obey every command with exactness." it would have been easy for the ones right next to helaman to obey, but what about the ones who are 100 men away? they can barely hear, and they might think, "he has no idea whats going on over here" but even they, were straining to hear, and obey. so like them, we need to pay attention to the spirit, it may be hard to hear, but it's there, and if we listen for it, we will hear it, and then, if we obey with exactness, we are blessed. we dont "die." we wont necessarily be left without wound, but we'll be safe. so it was a good study.

Rochelle, i really enjoyed your email, that story was funny [editors note: from Pres. Monsons talk at RS broadcast about the lady who criticizes the neighbors laundry, only to discover she is viewing it through her own dirty windows], and very applicaple as well. i found that to be the case on my mission. its easy to find fault with companion, leaders, and members, but its harder to look at yourself, and ask, "what do i need to change?" its not easy, but has massive dividends.





One word [for the week]: FLOOD. oh yes. we had rain, hard rain, most of the week- 4 days straight, and on and off the other days. today was the first dry day. it was so fun to work in the rain, but then the main bridge that we use to get to a lot of our member's houses got flooded- like massively flooded, the creek below it usually barely moves, and is like 2 meters below it- now the water is like a meter and a half above it! yes, i have pictures. apparently more rains are coming this week too, so we'll see how things go. also, to top if all off, on sunday i locked us out of the flat- luckily we were able to break in with the help of the watene's. apparently all you have to do is drill into the doorknob where the key hole is and then stick a flat-head in there, and turn. we have to get a new door knob, but hey, it worked, considering there were know locksmiths working on sunday, and the real estate agency wasnt open either with the spare keys. anyway, besides that, we werent able to have our lesson with the Gundersons this week, because they were gone to brisbane, and the rains had flooded 2 bridges between us and them, but we had a good lesson with Eli. well, 2 good lessons with him. he's learning a lot and asking very good questions. very intelligent for an 11-year-old. then, on sunday i was asked to give the lesson in priesthood because none of the elders quorum presidency were there (there's only 2 of them). so we discussed president Uchtdorf's talk from last General conference, the one about charity, where he talked about germany after world war II and how the church helped and the resulting growth of membership, but the resentment towards those who joined because of the food. it was quite good, and i'm glad i had the opportunity to stop and go and discuss as i pleased. surprisingly i had a lot to say, and was able to ask the right questions to the few in priesthood to have a very meaningful discussion. it was SO good! anyway, that has been the week, i love you all so much! have an amazing week!

love,

Elder Tayler Christensen

A lot Done

Hello Family and Friends,
Well, you all will be glad to know that this week went much better than last week. it hasn't been easier, but we have managed to get a lot done. we taught the gunderson's family again this week. it was a very good lesson. we taught the restoration, and watched the movie, and it went really good! everyone was obviously touched, and we committed them to baptism! YES!!! but we dont have a date yet, so its not set in stone, but we're going to baptize these people! i'm so excited for that! and we've been working with this 11-year-old kid called Eli for a while now. we've been teaching him since i got here, because he's way good, wants to get baptized and everything, his parents just are getting in the way, so its just been kinda laid back for a while, but this week we got serious again, and brought him to church... yes, by "brought" i mean we biked to his house, and then he biked with us to church. we must have looked pretty funny. 2 guys in suits, a little kid in civies, all biking to church. but it was good. then we had a cottage evening. it was way good, and very fun as well. its such a good idea to introduce people to the church in a laid back way to show people that we're normal, not a bunch of high-strung holier than thou people. so that went well. besides all that, its been a pretty slow, but hard working week. and yes, dad i found that i've started just being more the point while talking to people. beating around the bush just isnt cutting it for me any more. it seems like the more i do it, the more opportunity i lose, and the more opportunity i give people to shut me down. its hard to be bold and to the point, but i'm getting to that point where i just cant worry about it anymore. anyway, thats basically been the week. i am so happy to be here. i am learning so much, and finding such joy in seeing other people change. even people who are already members. its so amazing how this gospel changes people. ok, well i think that about sums it up. i hope all of you have an amazing week! i love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Tayler Christensen

Sept. 12, 2010

Hello my family and friends!

what a week this has been. for lack of a better word, we'll call it Interesting. unfortunately, not much got done this week. we just couldnt get anything done. but this week we have a real excuse. elder P. has been running on basically no sleep for a little over a week... and having experienced that and how dangerous it can be, i wasnt about to let him get on a bike. it was when he started having memory problems and the inability to think of common words, that i finally forced him to call someone. that didnt really help either though. they told us stuff we already knew, and told him to get a sleeping pill, which we already did, and even at the maximum dose, only gave him 2 hours of sleep. but he wont get any more help. its kind of frustrating.. i dont know what. but i'm sure i'll think of something.

anyway, thats been the not fun bit of the week, the fun bit of the week, was that we went to rocky for zone conference! but this one was special, it was also a mission tour- elder Callister from the Area Presidency (and 2nd quorum of the seventy) came too! it was awesome! he's the one who wrote "The Infinite Atonement" which is the one that i asked you to send me, and which i am currently reading. And to top it all off, he gave a lecture on the atonement, and it was based on his book! so i knew what he was talking about! yus... (picture me doing the napolean dynamite thing... :D) and the trainings that came afterwards was awesome. i got to do a role-play with elder Callister, or rather, TO elder callister, and after giving me some improvements which were sorely needed, he said he was impressed! i could have died! its amazing what a compliment from the lord's annointed can do for your confidence. so i came back with a new resolve to be better, and to actually do something to make it happen.

anyway, this weekend was also pretty fun. we had a branch activity, "the emerald chocolate factory." we didnt make any chocolate, but a member has studied the history and the art of making and testing chocolate, and she knew what she was talking about. and she made HEAPS of chocolate, all different kinds, and we did a proper chocolate tasting, so i now know how to tell if chocolate is quality chocolate, or if its just cheap yuck stuff, by looking at it, tasting it, touching it, and even listening to it. it was cool. guess who were the first people to have chocolate? the jaredites and the nephites. ya, its native to central/south america. i thought that was cool.

anyway, then we went to w--- for dinner that night, and that was interesting. they have basically adopted us, and they treat us basically like family. but they have a daughter who's kind of a problem child, and she's been giving them a lot of grief, and whatnot, and they had an argument while we were there over some pretty big stuff... it just made me reflect on the fact that i come from a family that is tight-nit, and gospel centered. i cannot tell you what an eye opener that was. we have it SO good in our family. i know we're not perfect, but i'm so glad we are what and who we are. i love how close we are. it makes me so happy!

i'm praying for you!

i love you all so much! have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Tayler Christensen

Sept. 5, 2010 when the going gets tough... i suppose it's time to get going. :D

Hello Family and Friends!

how is everyone? thank you for all of your mail, i really appreciate it. I cant believe school is starting again! thats the last time it will while i'm on my mission! WEIRD!!! and today, the 5th of september, marks my "sweet 16 months" mark or something like that. :P anyway, i hope all goes well with the remodel. Cara, thats pretty rough with your friend. i was sorry to hear that. I'm sorry i cant really say much to console you at this point, as i'm sure all that can be said has been said. but perhaps i can at least give my 2 cents. I dont know your friend, but Christ does, and he loves her. she is covered by his atonement, and she will have the opportunity to accept it. but you already know that. the important part though, is that the atonement, in this case also extends to YOU. remember in the book of mormon that the atonement is often referred to as "the arms of his [Christ's] love." or when someone was repentant, they were "encircled about by the arms of his love." just they could be, so can you be. true, complete healing comes with time, but that time can be significantly shortened when the atonement is used for ourselves, and then we can feel, quite literally, the embrace of the savior. i know we can, because i felt it, and i have had healing happen much faster than it otherwise could. i encourage you study that, and take advantage of it. The atonement covers anything negative in our lives. whatever it is, christ suffered it, and he can help us through it. [editors note: her high school friend was killed in an accident this week]. anyway, Dad its good to hear from you. just yesterday (today for you) was father's day for Australia. i had the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting. i get to do that now that i'm in a branch. Everyone was talking about their Dads and how much they appreciate them and whatnot, and i couldnt help but do the same. it kind of took me by surprise, how well it all fit into the gospel, and how our relationship has been much stronger in the last couple of years. then i was able compare that with our heavenly father, and how basically the same thing has happened. i concluded that i was so grateful for my dads. the full force of everything didnt hit me until just after that though, while we were singing the closing hymn. i found myself all choked up and unable to sing (a first for me) as i reflected on how much you've done to impact my life for the better. how i find myself trying to figure out what you would do in certain situations. i am so grateful for you, Dad. I love you.

ok, emotions back under control, i'll tell you about my week. it was difficult. although, in a different sort of way. we were, however, able to have the lesson with the Gunderson Family like we had anticipated. The Gundersons are a very active family in our church, and are from the states, here temporatily for with sister gunderson's family who are Kiwi. none of them are members, but almost all have, of late, expressed interest in the Gospel. Most of all, sister gunderson's sister-in-law, who was the one who got the ball rolling for us. however, she was unable to be there this last tuesday, but we were able to teach her nephew and his partner, and her niece. we taught the plan of salvation, and it was awesome. just before this, we were trying to decide if we should teach the plan of salvation, or the restoration. usually, the restoration comes first. but for some reason i couldnt shake the thought that the plan of salvation needed to be taught. but i just wasnt sure. i kept praying for confirmation, but didnt seem to be getting anything. then, we got a call, out of the blue from sister gunderson. she told us that those that we were teaching had recently lost a Grandfather who had been a major part of their lives, and asked if we could do the plan of salvation for them. it was such a simple thing, and yet it made a world of difference for me. again, close to tears. God really does answer prayers, and he answered mine. and the lesson went very well, and all 3 people are still very interested to learn, and we are excited to teach. that was the best part of this week. unfortunately, the rest of the week was a bit harder. we decided to make this transfer better than the other 2 we've had together, and have made the appropriate efforts, but as we all know, satan has so many ways to divert us from what we need to be doing. if he cant get us the way he normally does, he'll work through someone else. and so he has. this week seemed like we were constantly arguing. nothing major, nothing like a massive fall-out, just little arguments over little things that dont matter. it's quite frustrated me, because this is a problem that i havent really ever experienced. sure, one or 2 arguments here and there, but never like this. I found mostly that it was I who had the short fuse in most cases which also frustrated and concerned me. but we are fixing that as well. this transfer we are going to baptize some important people, and satan doesnt want that, but thats not going to stop us. I'll change everything about me if thats what is required to do what needs to be done, but this time- THIS TIME i refuse to lose. i dont need to see the baptism necessarily, but i need to make sure that it happens. and i certainly will. and by "I" i mean with God's help, God willing. so that's basically how this week has been.

Anyway, thats basically all for this week. I love you all so much! i know this is where i'm supposed to be, and i know that this is God's true church. there is no denying it, it simply could not be the church of any other person, thing or entity. the joy is too real, the change too complete. this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!

love you all!

Love,

Elder Tayler Christensen