New Companion!!! Elder Christy from Twin Rapids, Minnesota

Dallin's Halloween costume

Hi Family,

I can't believe that everyone is home from their missions. October just flew by. Now I only have one transfer left here in Japan. It feels really weird. I am officially the "oldest" missionary in our mission now. Oh, and I have a new companion, but I am still in Odori. Elder Tuttle got sent up to my bean area, Asahikawa, and I got Elder Christy, coming from Iwamizawa. He is only on his second transfer now, and so he is a younger missionary than Elder Tuttle. I was sad to not see a baptism together with Elder Tuttle, and I most certainly am going to do all in my power to see at least one before the end of my mission.

Elder Christy is half-Japanese, and his Mom is actually from a place in the Iwamizawa area named Yubari. He was born in Tokyo and lived there till he was 5. From there his family moved to Twin Rapids, Minnesota and he has lived there since. He is way good at Japanese, much better than me.
We had a few awesome experiences this week. Last Monday night we went and taught the Filipino family again. Elder Tuttle and I had planned on helping them feel the Spirit, focus on their needs, and review the Restoration. The lesson ended up being one of the best lessons I have ever experienced. Throughout the entire lesson the Holy Ghost testified to us and them of the truthfulness of our message. I have never taught in unity so well with my companion in a lesson before. Ideas flowed easily and we were both able to help the investigators. At one point in the lesson I couldn't think of anything to say in response to a question our investigator asked. I didn't know what to say, but Elder Tuttle started talking and the Holy Ghost testified to me that what he was saying was exactly what our investigator needed to hear. Later on in the lesson, we put in the Restoration DVD to watch it with them and the dad's face lit up as he said, "They have it in Cebuano! That is our native language!" He eagerly watched it in his native language and it really helped him understand the Restoration.

Eating sushi after a training meeting

We had a big snowstorm on Tuesday, and by the time the day was over we had about 4 inches of snow. We were freezing cold when we got home and were happy to get into the apartment. But I heard some air leaking from my bike tire. Somehow I had nicked it and I could tell that I would have a flat tire within a little bit. So I brought my bike up to our apartment, put it out on our deck, and was going to fix it early the next morning. Since I was busy on the phone, I would have no time that night. But Elder Tuttle, being the great companion he was, volunteered to fix it for me since he had a bit of extra time. I was surprised at his nice act of kindness and willingly let him patch it up. He got the job done and we were both pretty happy. 

Elder Christensen, Brother Fuji and Elder Christy

On Saturday I got a phone call from Yoshi san! I don't know if you remember him because he is from so long ago, but we found him my second day in Odori. We had set a baptismal date with him and all seemed to be going well, and then...he stopped answering his phone. Or so we thought. It turns out that he had lost his phone, but now he has it back. He was excited to talk with me and he says that he wants to meet with us soon! Hopefully we can get him back on track for baptism when we meet him next.

Well, that is about it. I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do!

 

Elder Christensen