"Chalk Talks" at the parks

Dear mommy!
I did have a surprise visitor yesterday haha. i was standing in front of the doors talking to my district leader and his companion and then he walked throught the doors. i was way excited to see him but also super nervous because my district leader wasnt too happy. but i told him i had no idea greg was coming so he was like. i wouldnt worry about it then. well anyways This week we have been tracting a ton! and just trying to find that second group to teach. on friday i went on my first exchange with the district leader. his name is elder hermansen and he is pretty cool but i didnt like the fact that he bagged on his companion behind his back. his companion really isnt that bad and he made it seem like it was the end of the world! i mean come on? you are almost done with your mission and you are not even humbled! On wednesday me and elder sinclair decided to try a new method called chalk talks.. we bought a box of chalk and went to the park and i drew a huge plan of salvation on the bike path.. that was during the day and we didnt get to talk to a lot of people. so we decided to go back at night and we talked to alot of different people and it was really interesting to see all of the people that walk by or ride by on their bikes.. were always looking at it. luckily this bike path is right next to some really nice soccer fields that are always lit up with lights everywhere! so we were able to stay till about 8:45ish. it gets dark here around 7:45 now and its really annoying because you cant tract and knock doors anymore because people get really mad when its dark! so anyways thats been the whole week in a nut shell! lots and lots of tracting! its not really my favorite thing to do.. but you gotta do it when there is nothing else to do.

A surprise visit!

Greg attended a ward today while Sunday while working in Dallas. What a coincidence! It was the same ward that Dilan attends! Who woulda thought? ;) Ok..well, I did happen to send my famous cookies with him as a late birthday present this week.

Happy 20th Birthday, Dilan!!

20 years old today!!

Where has the time gone? I remember when Dilan was a mischievious tow-headed wild man climbing on the roof of my house (at 5), putting rocks in his ears, breaking his arm, splitting his head open at 10 months, again at 5, and then for the biggie crash into the birdbath at age 8. This kid just has had no fear and continues to be a daredevil.

I used to be afraid of him running off in the grocery store, talking randomly to anyone that would listen or be kidnapped from taking off to ..who-knows-where...on his bicycle. Again..at a very young age. Now..he gets to "randomly" share the gospel with anyone he can on the street. This should be EASY for him! ;)

Gosh! I miss this kid, but so incredibly proud of him and because of his ability to communicate ..without fear, he will go far and be an awesome missionary because of his personality, character, sensitivity and HUGE heart he has.

Happy Birthday, Pookie Bear!

Love and Hugs
MOM~

Hail Thunderstorms in Dallas...finally!!

Diana andrews and her husband James Andrews

Melinda Eitzen and her husband Kevin Gosney

hey mommy!
thanks for wishing me a happy birthday! you feel old? where in the heck did these 20 years go!? i remember being a deacon with seth chandler and causing a ruckus every where we went haha. thats way awesome that you ran into jordan! shes a great friend to me and am glad that we stay in touch every week! This last saturday i had 2 more baptisms making my baptism count 3.. i had the priveledge of baptizing melinda eitzen and i baptized her on the first try! i was pretty proud of my self:). melinda is an attorney for divorce cases she has a pretty big house and lives in one of the more fancy neighborhoods here in plano! plano is a pretty rich area and some houses around here go for 400,000 dollars and they arent even 2,000 square feet! crazy right? this last week has been crazy! we have had lots of meetings and on tuesday i had to move some other elders out of their apartments and into a members house. well this one elder named elder hermansen has a desk that probably weighs 500 pounds. it is by far the heaviest piece of furniture i have moved in forever! well its a good thing i was there and not some scrawny missionary because it was so heavy and that scrawny missionary wouldnt have been able to lift it an inch of the ground. LITERALLY! on friday our investigator diana andrews who was also baptized on saturday took us to buffalo wild wings with her husband james andrews. i watched the whole first half of the boise state game and kellen moore was tearing it up! i was going crazy! people were probably wondering.. isnt this kid not allowed to be watching tv or even be here? haha but i didnt care! i was super happy! the work here in plano is coming along great and i just hope the lord continues to bless me and my companion as long as we are faithful workers of thee! last night me and my companion were tracting and were caught in a huge thunderstorm! it was hailing the size of golf balls! no joke! we got home and we were soaken wet! i had called 5 minutes before getting home and told our members to open the garage and put some towels out. well we got home and there was not only towels. there was also those floating rings that you sit on in a pool sitting out for us as well! they like to joke with us and i thought it was super funny! last night was the first big thunderstorm we have received since we have been here. i was super excited for that! i think the drought was finally over! we broke the record for the hottest summer in dallas texas and thats way exciting too! well mom im greatful for you and your support! have a great week! i love you!
love elder christensen

BSU game and Wild wings??

Howdy mom!
Happy birthday to you!:)
i received your box on tuesday and was excited to get it.. squirt guns? you know i loved them but you have to remember.. im on my mission haha:) i gave some of those pretzels to my companion and now he is hooked on them too!

This week me and elder sinclair attended a funeral for a older man in the 4th ward who flew jets in the air force or something.. he had alot of medals.. too many to count haha. so how was the talks from sulli and kevin? is kevin still a goof ball? im sure he still has some goofyness to him! this week on saturday i have 2 convert baptisms for diana and melinda.. i am probably going to end up baptizing melinda but we will see! diana is married to james and he is a convert to the church and we love to go over to their appartment. they are actually taking us to buffalo wild wings on friday.. for the BOISE STATE GAME! HAHA. shhhhh... dont tell anyone hehe. i hope you have a great week and birthday mom! the only thing i can think of for my birthday is ties.. and maybe a nice electric toothbrush that you got for shea. i liked his so possibly the same one. if you cant get one tho.. thats okay. i love you mom and am greatful for your support! oh.. and maybe some money or something:)
love elder christensen

A testimony of the Law of Tithing

hey mom!
how have you been?? its gonna be short today cause we are way busy! im not getting transferred so i have the same address! we had a baptism on saturday for shirley lentz and it went very good! we met with an investigator named melinda eitzen yesterday. and she was taught all of the lessons from the previous elders so we were just seeing how she was doing. we met with her last week and she had a problem with the law of tithe. so we met with her yesterday and she said that after we left last week she had a dream all night about tithing and she came to know that it is a commandment of the lord. so she ended up paying tithing on sunday and then we met with her last night. she said. so i think we should set a date for my baptism! it was so cool that she wanted to set a date and we didnt even ask her to.. we werent planning on setting a date last night either woo hoo! so exciting so she will be baptized on the 17th. have a great week!
love elder christensen

Service project

So, this week we did alot of service and heres one story from the week. we had to go clean out this apartment for this couple in their 50's and they were horders! it was so gross! i ended up cutting my leg on a broken mirror and putting a huge gash in my leg. well not huge but deep. its okay no stitches just a bandage and i was good to go. well we took 2 loads of trash to the dump and we got out of there! that place stunk! the man that actually lived there was hospitalized because of the stench in that apartment. he got a sinus infection that ate the bone away between the brain and nose and he ended up passing away yesterday!:( so it was kind of sad to hear that and to see how he lived for his whole life!

Lovin' lasagna in Texas...but not as good as moms!

Hey mom!

it is always nice when i get to see emails every monday! thats so funny about zach and his bike riding! he never road the bikes when i was around? what made him wanna do it now? i havent really been spending lots of money lately but today im gonna go buy some ties cause i have like none and i want a more color variety! the streak for the heat never broke.. it never hit a 100 on like 2 of the days this last week which felt great! but very humid because it rained!

So heres an interesting story for ya! so there is this member named james andrews who was converted back in 2007. well he quickly fell away from the church and about a year ago he started biking and weighed about 300 pounds. well today hes probably about 230.. well he started having heart problems and we ended up giving him a blessing a couple weeks ago. well he married his wife diana about 20 years ago. and after a year they divorced. well about a month or two later they found eachother on facebook and still had feelings for eachother. so they wanted to get back together and remarried. well when they got a divorce.. the papers never went through, so they had been married for over 20 years and had no idea.. well they are now back together! well ever since hes been having heart problems.. he figured that was a sign of god telling him to go back to church. so he started going back and he brought his wife diana along with him.. well she is baptist and she said she has never felt the spirit in our church like she has anywhere else! she said that this is where she belongs! well this week we had the first lesson with her and i committed her to baptism.. my heart was beating so fast! she said yes and i was so happy for her! she could really feel the spirit because she started crying at one point of the lesson. it was a very spiritual lesson!

my companion and i get along great! and we teach very good together! the wards here are nothing like the ones at home! size wise that is! but they are all very strong in the gospel and very good with missionary work! so far lasagna seems to be the number 1 meal we eat haha. but hey.. lasagna is way good! not as good as yours tho:) i hope you have a great week mom! i love you lots and tell everyone that i love and miss them too!

lover elder christensen

Thank goodness for wearing short sleeve shirts in Dallas!

If you look in the background, you can see the Plano watertower

letter from Dilan:

Dear Mom!
so whats this i hear about ping pong.. did you get a table or something? if so thats way cool! we have a pool table in the house we live in so we take advantage of that quite a bit. we actually had to buy more chalk for the pool sticks today haha. okay so the power just shut off like 2 minutes ago and thank goodness my email was saved haha. but yes of course we get to wear short sleeve shirts. i would quit if we couldnt haha. jk! i have 7 short sleeves and 3 long sleeves. well my bike i bought from a members son who bought it about a year ago.. he never used it so it was like brand new and it was originally probably 600.00 dollars. it is a trek and it is really nice! i have pictures so i will send you one. so as of today i have lost about 20 pounds.. they just keep falling off and its so awesome! it makes me really happy! we go to walmart every monday and we buy food for the week. most of the time we have dinners at night so the people we live with dont make us food. she does cook us breakfast on sundays tho! :) i hope you are doing good mom i love you!
love elder christensen
ps. do you think you could send me one of those electric toothbrushes that you got shea on his mission? i would really like that!:)

Biking for 20 miles a day in 100+ degree temps

The answer to your first question is we are on bikes! we bike about 20 miles or so a day and it has been over a 100 every day since i have been here. i have lost about 10 pounds since being out here and i hope to keep losing weight! i do pushups and situps everyday and workout a little with the dumbells. breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal and lunch is maybe a sandwich. i dont really eat a lot during those times. its usually dinner with the members is when i eat! i drink a ton of water out here and i sweat so much! i dont think there is ever a time in my day where i am dry from the sweat! but it has humbled me so much since being out here and i am growing to love it! our days mostly consist of leaving the house around 12.. tracting for about 5 or so hours and going to dinner and then tracting for about 3 hours after us. even tho tracting is the most useless thing to do for missionary work.. the lord has blessed us with a few referrals since being here! we had a lesson with a 23 year old girl named shirley lentz yesterday and committed her to baptizm and she said yes! i was so excited for her and am glad she made that decision. so i think my first baptizm will be on the 27th of august.

Mission President - Elder Durrant and his wife

Dilan with his mission President, Elder Devin Durrant and his wife in front of the Dallas, TX temple. (President Durrant was a former BYU basketball player in the 80's.)

1st area - Plano, Texas!

My first area is Plano Texas.. the area is so big and its one of the wealthier areas to be in. so tracting isnt going to be so successfull and so far it hasnt haha. well monday when we flew in and i first stepped out of the airport the hot humid air his me so hard i started sweating (like crazy). i could not believe how hot it was out here! we went to the mission home and had infield orientation that pretty much took all day.. the next day we got transferred and i was the last one to be transferred and i was called to plano texas to serve with elder sinclair. it was funny cause the night before i tracted with him and his companion in their area so kind of funny. well we both got doubled in and had no idea who the investigators were in the area. we finally got settled down and are running smoothly now. We are living with the bishop and his family and they are all so nice.
(in addition, Dilan is serving in a ward where a missionary that served in Meridian, Idaho and lived with members around the corner from Dilan. His name is Elder Adrian Etherton and he just returned from serving and spoke in his ward on Dilan's first Sunday there. What a small world it is....even when you're in TEXAS!)

Elder Christensen has arrived in Dallas!

Just a quick note to let you know that your missionary has arrived safe and sound in Dallas, has been fed (twice--we tell them, "In the South, food is love!", so we make sure they are well-fed!!!) and are out with other missionaries hard at work already. They will get their first assignment and new companions/trainers tomorrow morning.

We are so glad to have your missionary here...

Sister Williams
Secretary, Texas Dallas Mission

MTC life

Trying to escape!

I wonder if they were caught on tape!

Top Bunk in the MTC dorm room. This doesn't look

too comfortable without the mattress.

Claire Poulsen, a friend of the family also received her call to the Dallas, Texas Mission. She came out the MTC 1 week ahead of Dilan

Dilan's Mission district

MTC mission companion, Elder Flitton and Elder Christensen

Gym time playing volleyball with the district

Missionaries emailing home while waiting for laundry

The Laundry room

Elder Flitton and Dilan doing laundry

1st official email from MTC- 2nd week.

Man! here in the mtc is way fun! so we have been learning a lot and its been such a great experience and i have gained so much of my testimony that i didnt even know i had. we have been going to devotionals every sunday and tuesday night. and last night we went to a devotional from a guy who was a member of the seventy. elder richard h. winkel. he and his wife went on and talked to us about christ and his life and his atonement and sacrifice he made for us. it was such an amazing experience and afterwards we had district meeting about the devotional and the spirit was so strong in the meeting i could totally feel it. me and elder flitton have been investigating a non active member named brother cheng. and we first met with him last week and he didnt really feel like listening to us. we went in to talk to him this week and we had members come with us. it was awesome cause the member could relate to brother chengs experience.. he wanted to know why his friends died in war and not the bad people. well the member had a very similar story and explained to brother cheng how he coped with that and how the lord helped him. it brought brother cheng to tears and you could tell that the spirit was working him so hard and letting him know that his heavenly father loves him! you asked if we go off campus to teach. the answer is no. the mtc has people that volunteer sometimes members sometimes non members. but they volunteer and act so well! its crazy! well im running out of time but i get to call home when i get to the airport on monday at 8 in the morning. (Leaving the MTC for Dallas on 7/18)

MTC - 1 week

1st Letter home

Friends in the MTC

Elder Jake Strong - Italy, Elder Dilan Christensen -Texas, Elder Jared Mortensen - Chili, Elder Zach Batis - Japan

Elder Christensen Arrives at the MTC-Provo, Utah