December 17, 2010

This week seems to be like the most normal one yet. We are all learning Spanish very fast and this Monday were going to have to teach lesson one in Spanish. We practiced teaching it twice and i did pretty well i want to do way better but i definitely got my point across. One of the most spiritual experiences that i had this week was when we went to our fireside we had the byu men’s chorus sing and at the end of it they had a video with seems from the testament of Jesus and his ministry. And after the clips a lot of us were teary and we felt so good that we were here serving our savior who did so much for us so we could be happy and be freed from sin and also spiritual death. Then after the devotional we were very privileged to watch the testament and it was the best ever since i understand so much more and because i am a lot closer to my savior. When this ended all of us were teary eyed when Jesus appeared to the main father at the end and gave him his eyesight back after he saved his son it was an awesome experience as we all talked about it when we went back to our rooms. Every time I am not feeling like the spirit is as strong as i would want it i just teach and it comes back so strong. But one of the best feelings i have had this week is when i was teaching i didn’t have the fear at all of what i was going to say i felt so confident because i knew since i did my part to study and pray that the spirit was definitely there for me so i knew when ever i felt the spirit to go ahead and start talking and teach from my heart and the spirit would make sure that i had something to say this feeling is so incredible i love it. We are losing our teacher hermano cleek this week cause he is going home for Christmas right now then switching districts after new year’s so it is sad because we all love him a ton. And then we are also being left by Hermana Truman who is awesome she also switches at the years end so it’s sad but i might not be here to see that but I’ll find out hopefully soon. But on a funny note Elder Hammond again who is hilarious he was in a bathroom stall and there was an elder on both sides one from our district and the other was his companion so they play pranks so his companion says elder Hammond, and he didn’t answer him so he was thinking uh oh that’s not good then he saw elder Hammond’s feet outside the stall then he looked up and elder Hammond had filled up a 7 gallon sized garbage container full of water from the tub and poured it out over the stall on him when he was on the pot. His companion jumps up and screams and since its tile floor it title waved and hit the other elder and all the sudden (me and my roommates not knowing this happened) Elder Hammond runs into our room slams the door dives under our bed and hides behind suit cases ha ha then like two seconds later someone knocks on our door and they both ask where is Hammond! And they saw his feet and ran and attacked him it was way funny to hear them tell the story but our district is way awesome. We are way spiritual some of the most spiritual moments ever are in our testimony meetings and this one elder said we are the best friends he has ever had and we mean so much to him when he had the rock style life and could have gone big in a band then changed it all for his heavenly father cause he had a rough life. But we also have a way fun district to right before bed time it gets way funny and fun but i miss you all a ton and love you so much have an incredible Christmas can’t wait to get your letters love
Elder Christoffersen.

Pictures 12.11.2010

12/10/2010

This week probably felt the most normal out of all of them. We are now definitely in the flow of things and we are learning so fast and we are also learning so much that it is insane. My spanish is starting to make more sense and i am understanding more and more each day. This week my companion almost went home because of medical and because he was very discouraged. We tried everything we talked to him by being understanding and then we shared our feelings and we were also stern with him telling him that he needed to stay here. Even after he met with our branch president and both teachers after wards he told me when we went on our temple walk that he didnt care what anyone said and no pep talk was going to get him to stay and we had a lesson that was directed to him that he even said that it wasnt a bad thing to go home and that he was ok if he didnt serve and he wouldnt fall away from the church. We heard about every escuse and reason for him to go home even after everything we tried so on sunday a lot of us fasted for him(24 hours is pretty rough with a lot of study) but we did and then on monday before he made his decision if he would stay or go home we had a prayer for him as a district with our teacher and our zone leaders and my district leader asked if i would offer the prayer. This was probably the first time i said a prayer and felt like i said everything i needed to say that we wanted of my companion it felt way awesome and the spirit in the room was very strong as we were all kneeling in our classroom. But as that day went on he called his parents so that he could talk to them about how he kept going into the doctor and how he isnt sleeping good and how he was scared he was going to have to get surgery because of how bad he was feeling. But he came out of the room with tears in his eyes and he seemed a lot better and me and a companionship were waiting for him to come out and he said that he recieved a blessing from his dad over the phone and that he new that he was going to stay and that he has never felt so good before in his life. As the days have gone on he knows that he is staying here and that he is going to bolivia. All of his medical has somehow vanished and he isnt feeling sick or getting sick anymore its prettty crazy what the power of fasting and prayer can do. We realized that sometimes that you can only do so much and prayer will do the rest. But on a funny not one of the elders is planning on taking a bubble bath and singing loud for everyone to hear ha ha its gonna be exciting. He is not scared to do a lot he is pretty funny. I wish all of you an awesome christmas and fun winter i dont know if ill be going to peru wednesday because i still havent been called to the office to grab my visa but i will find out in the next few days hopefully i get it but im ok where ever i go. I love all of you and hope that this is an incredible week one last thing we had an aweome missionary conference witch had a lot to do with the atonement and there is so much more to it then we know and also about when christ was born it was truely a awesome conference. Then the devotional tuesday was about how we need to know christ or we cant teach of him as well and the speaker brother swick built the first chapel in bolivia it was a cool story. I love devotionals they are always truely amazing. I will right you wednesday if im not leaving or when ever i find out. I need the letter i sent to be mailed to neil germaine youll probably have to find the address on facebook and dad i need to know if you know the christensen twins one is married to my branch president she said she knows you cant wait to hear from you till next time

love Elder Christoffersen

Post Cards

I found some really fun post cards while I was at Deseret Book today. Here are some of my favorite ones. This first one really makes me laugh. I figured I could send Camron one or two cards a month. I will share more with you as I send them out.

First pictures sent home

Look at Camron's belly :) He told me in his last letter that he has gained atleast 8 pounds from the food there!!

December 3, 2010

So this week at the mtc was pretty dang good i didnt think that i would have as powerful of experiences as i had last week but they were pretty dang awesome first we had to teach the second lesson and i did not feel like we had prepared well enough to teach this lesson because we had just finished our outlines on them but we did it and it went pretty good. But what i felt that was so great about teaching this lesson is that at the end when i was promising blessings to one of the elders and baring my testimony words just seemed to keep coming to my mind and i was saying them so well with out trying to find words it felt so great and i could not have ever done this with out the spirit. I havent known untill now how the spirit is so powerful and when you trust the spirit and open your mouth having prayed and asked for the spirits guidance you can definitely rely on him because i am here baring whitness that when i trust him that i teach more powerfully and i teach more to the needs of who i am teaching to its a great feeling. Another awesome moment was when i had to teach with another elder in my district. I was scared of this because me an him havent ever taught together so i didnt know how this would go. But because we opened with a prayer and asked if the spirit would be with us so that we could be guided in what to say and help out the elder we taught things went very smoothly and we both opened up to the elder we taught. I thought it was great because after the elder that we taught told us that he really looked up to both of us and that we were great friends and that we meant a lot to him and i felt really good and we all told each other how we felt and how things were going. But the one thing that gave me the most confidence is that i never really knew if my testimony ever had effect on anyone i try to show how much it means to me(which since being here i can now look others in the eyes and bear testimony with passion) but i didnt know if it truely effected anyone but the elder who taught with me said that i know when camron bears his testimony i know that what he is saying is true. This made me feel so amazing inside and helps me to be able to express it more often cause i know that maybe it can have a greater affect on others. The MTC here turned from i cant wait to get out of here to be in the field cause its so close to home and feels like a prison ha ha in a way(this is what i felt the first day or two) to becoming the most spiritual and life changing incredible place ever and its so needed because it has changed so much of how i teach how i bare whitness of truths how i promise blessings when others commit to come closer to christ. The MTC is truely a great place and hope that peru will also be the same way. My companion is pretty sick he cant go number two so idk if he will make it we encourage and comfort him but im sure everything wil work out for him I leave for Peru on december 15th and its pretty dang exciting ill miss my district a lot and our great teachers. Im so greatful for all of the support which you are showing and i looked forward every day to reading your letters i wish you the bess holidays ever and hope that you will find time to gain the real meaning of Christmas the birth of Jesus Christ our savior who lived so that we can enjoy the blessings of our heavenly father love you all Elder Christoffersen