Jan 28

This week was so busy....... Wednesday we went to the Island of montreal to do splits with the elders in Monteray. That means that I spent all of Wednesday.... in a Spanish area! Most of you reading this will recall that I do not, in fact, speak spanish, and therefore expected this to be quite an enjoyable day of listening to lots of soothing voices.

As usual with this kind of thing, I was wrong. The lessons we ended up having were with people who spoke more english than spanish, and my companion for the day, Elder Alvarez, is from spain, and doesnt speak a lot of english. The good news is, I really like teaching people about the gospel. :) Then, I left my sack there. That was terrible. A missionary without a Sack is like a bumblebee without wings. Good for just about nothing. I felt so.... so.... naked.... all of thursday. Fortunately, we had zone conference on Friday, so we went Back to the island of montreal, in bumper to bumper traffic, and reclaimed my beloved sack. 

Consider me grateful.

Also! Zone conference was INCREDIBLE! A meeting with president, the assistants, and all the zone leaders, where he just TEACHES us things! Things which he then expects us to take and teach to our zones. Again, not exactly a vacation, but still super amazing. :)

Speaking of Learning, I have been bewildered time and again by just how much we as human beings are capable of learning. Am I the only one thats ever stopped to think about that? So often in life, I learn so much about something, and I find myself thinking that NOW I know everything there is to know, so now I can go teach this thing to other people, since I know all about it, only to find later on in life that I didnt even know MOST of what there was to know, and I still have a whole lot to learn. Since coming here to Canada, I think that the activity that has consumed the most of my time and attention has been learning. Even in teaching other people, I find that I learn. Theres this wonderful sensation, when you teach with the spirit, where words start to come out of your mouth that you dont really recognize, and you find yourself saying things you didnt know you knew, and you get the impression that you are learning just as much, if not more, than the people that you are supposedly teaching.

I love my Job. :)

Also! Im out of time. but I wanted to leave you all with a little challenge this week. If ever you find that you are sad, or upset, or bored, or in any other way experiencing any sort of negativity in your life about ANYTHING, go bear your testimony to someone. Anyone. Whether they know who you are or not. Whether they are a member of the church or not. Whether they CARE or not. When we bear our testimonies, they grow. When we bear our testimonies, we LEARN, a lot like Ive been learning out here, about ourselves. About what we know. About who we are. Bearing testimony frequently increases faith, adds to your knowledge, and, I am convinced, brings the spirit into your life quicker than just about anything else, and is therefore one of the best ways to combat bad days.

Just a thought.

I love all of you! thanks for everything!

Love,

--

Elder Christensen