Lots of Cool Stuff is Happening

Hey hey, family and friends.  So this past week was nuts.  Last week as I was writing my email, I was in the mission office.  Elder Mostert was talking to President about something.  So remember how I mentioned that he had been zone leader forever?  Well, he has been asked to leave and go be Assistant.  So now I feel like I'm back in a situation like I was with Elder Smith 6 months ago.  Two missionaries pretty new to the area, expected to do big things.  We've seen lots of cool stuff happen, so it looks like everything will work out.

 

I don't know if I mentioned this, but the stake president here wants to build a new church building in our area.  President is thinking about stealing the bottom corner of 3 wards and making one ward, with our area as the most beefy part.  Now, I don't know if I mentioned this, but because of how far our area is from all the apartments, there hasn't been a whole lot of work in the past.  So we're in an almost untouched area with about 70% Latinos and we're laying the groundwork for a new ward.  It's so exciting!  Watch for the Lincoln Heights Temple coming in 2030.

 

My new companion is Elder Febbo.  He is from Houston, TX.  He played tennis in high school (super stoked about that one).  Everyone I know is jealous that I have him as my companion.  With Elder Mostert gone, Elder Febbo is now the senior zone leader.  Elder Febbo's first companion as zone leader was Elder Flores (my trainer)!!  So ya, we're really excited to be together, and we're going to get lots done.

 

Elder Sitati was incredible.  Most of the time, he taught us about our purpose.  It's amazing how our purpose statement can keep blowing our minds.  On top of what he taught us, the way he taught us was super instructive as well.  He broke down our purpose statement into 8 phrases, then asked the question for each phrase, "Why do we do this?" and "How do we do this?"  The whole thing was a huge eye opener to me.  There were tons of "oh, duh" moments for everyone there.  As zone leaders, we got some one-on-one time before the general meeting.  He asked us what questions we had.  We talked for about 40 minutes about how understanding leads to conversion and how we, as leaders, need to make sure that our missionaries understand what they are expected to do.  All of the questions we had that weren't answered in that first hour were answered in the general session.  We are hoping to see a big upswing in everything really soon.  Number wise, our mission has been struggling a bit, but I think we have an idea of everything we need to change to get it back.

 

Huge thanks to the Harrisons for the Halloween package!  That candy was consumed with great haste.

 

Love you all,

Elder Christensen