Von and Carolyn Christensen: ZONE CONFERENCES

 Zone Conferences are a twice yearly event.  We are so glad we were able to attend during our first two months.  Four Zone Conferences in a row were held throughout the mission, from upper Illinois (Lake Villa) to upper Indiana (Valparaiso). 

Two zones meet together for each day.

At each Zone Conference, a local Relief Society prepares a lunch.  In our Spanish branch, they view this lunch as a way to honor and help the missionaries.  Almost the whole branch came to help. This was the main course.  Soup, rolls, and desert came along with it.

 

We always get excited after lunch when it is time for the missionaries to sing the lunch song.  The first time we heard it, We had helped prepare the lunch, and the song brought tears to our eyes.  The missionaries punch the word "bunch" when they sing it.  And they sing it like they mean it. 

GENERAL AND ZONE CONFERENCES

I am glad to hear that her funeral was so great! I love that there was eclairs, the oreo cookies and haggandaz hahaha. She would have been so proud! But everything here is going great though. The gospel truly does bless our family so much! It is crazy because I have felt the joy and comfort of the Gospel so much!  I know I will see her again!

And yes we got the easter packages, thank you for sending the shirt and the tie! Please no more candy though, we are still loaded up from Christmas even so all of the stuff from Valentines and St Patricks is just piling up so we have way more candy than we would eat in our whole missions hahaha! 

This week we had a fantastic week though! We went to all of the zone conferences so we got to go to all of the different parts of the mission. We went to Buffalo Grove which is the northern suburbs and we also got to go down to Indiana. I think it was my second or third time going to those places ever haha. My favorite part of all the conferences was this week on Wednesday when we got to go to the Chicago zone conferences which is the stake of the south side.  On Tuesday night I was thinking that I really wanted to see Karina who is a recent convert in Midway.  I was thinking that I could text the elders in my last area and to tell them to tell her to come to the church or to maybe see if we could stop by after the meeting and say hi to her. I really wanted to see her but then I kept thinking oh she's not in our area anymore and we will be busy so I just felt like we shouldn't text her. That night though I just prayed that she would know how much that I love her and her family! Then the next day when we got to the meeting and when it was lunch time we walk into the gym and they announce that the Midway Ward was the one who provided the lunch. It was amazing because Karina came and I also got to see a lot of the other members! It was honestly one of the best moments ever! So after lunch I got to talk to Karina for like 20 minutes and she is doing so well! She just barely went to the temple and she Loved it! I told her though that she answered my prayers by being there and she talked about how it was a crazy thing that she ended up there! The Sunday before the meeting they said they just need men to help serve so she was going to offer but then thought she couldn't but then on Tuesday she was talking to the relief society president and was like are you sure that you don't need anybody to help and then she was like oh yes! So she ended up coming and it made me so happy!!  She just made my week so much better! I miss her family so much!

Our area is really starting to pick up also! We had six investigators come to conference this weekend so that was huge! Conference was great as well! We watched most of the sessions at the Foster building but we watched one at the house of a member named Stein Ingerbretsen, he is friends with John Ellis and his uncle is the doctor named Rich who is friends with Leslie.

It was sweet because we brought one of the members in Chi 4 who is YSA to a lesson with us and she invited our investigator to come watch conference at the Foster building because her family was doing something after conference there so we got invited too! :) they had a bunch of food between sessions and it was one of the ladies birthdays who we call Obispa. In the Hispanic tradition they always push your face in the cake but she snuck around it so one of the Elders went to get her with a plate of whip cream and he got her so she came to get him back after and he reached for him and he blocked it and so the whole plate of cream went onto my companion’s suit and everyone just started dying laughing! It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen!!

I love Elder Zacher a lot though! We are working so well together and we are such great friends! We are loving working together and starting to see lots of success!

It was a great week this week and I am loving being here! Have a great day today mom!

GOD WILL PROVIDE

I am sorry I don't have very much time today! Today we have a short Pday because we went to the temple on Saturday to do baptisms for the dead with a recent convert of a Elder Zachers in his last Ward. 

I am so sorry though to hear about grandma. President Woodbury called this morning and he was so loving about everything. You all don't need to worry about me though, there is no place on Earth that could be better for me than where I am at right now.  The last few days have been so great and I know Grandma is happy too! It just makes this work so much more worth it! All day today I have had the hymn because I have beengiven much stuck in my head because God really gives us so much!  Earlier this week it was hard because every day we promise huge blessings to investigators and members for their obedience and I just
wasn't feeling them but that was because I wasn't looking deep enough and seeing what I already have. The Lord loves us all so much and he knows! Tell Grandpa that I love him and Dad especially. I won't have time to respond to anyone else but just know that I am happy and that things will be okay! And also I love Stephs email when she asked Grandma to take care of Eleanor.. God will provide. 

I love you all and smile!

THE VARIETY SHOW

We had a pretty great week this week! We loved having the opportunity to see the new missionaries and contact on the train! That always help give us new energy to go work hard and talk to everyone! It was also really sad seeing so many of the missionaries go home this week because we are so close to them but it just makes me so happy to see all of the success that they have brought and the examples that they are leaving for the rest of the mission. It was crazy though because we had to load all 32 missionaries’ stuff into a trailer and it was just Elder Zacher and I so it took forever!! Then we had to unload them right after so it took so much energy! We were joking that was our gift to them for 2 years of service hahaha.

We did a ton of finding this week though and we didn't really have too much success but on Saturday we had a huge miracle! So for our ward we did a variety show at the Logan Square so a little but before Elder Zacher had the idea that we should draw on posters and tell everyone to come so we went to the corner of the street and we contacted there for like an hour and it was great because hardly anybody knew that it was a Mormon church so we really got the word out! Nobody was really interested because they all had plans but as we were contacting there was a group of young kids and they all walked past us and then an older guy passed by later with a beer in his hand and he told us that he was going to drop stuff off at home and see if the young kids wanted to come. We didn't really think anything of it and then like 20 minutes into the show all of them walked in!! We gave them a church tour at "half time." We thought that they were thinking we were crazy because the activity was super funny and they were video taping parts but when we were talking to them and talking with one of the sons and he was like Oh I never knew this was a Mormon church I thought it was a catholic or Christian church. Then a few seconds later was like oh yeah I was baptized in this church down in Mexico a while back. He told us about how his missionaries were from Utah so we knew it was the right church! It was a huge miracle! And a member in our ward invited one of his friends and we are going to start to teach her so that was a huge miracle!

Elder L. Tom Perry last week was amazing though! Elder Zacher and I got to meet him and shake his hand so that was super sweet! He was so busy here though so not very many of the missionaries had the chance to meet him! It was an amazing experience listening to him! He talked a lot about his experience on his mission and how we need to be more creative with the missionary work that we do and some ideas to find more people!

Today has been great though! We are just playing basketball with a ton of the Elders and we are having lots of fun! I am a little area sick today though. I am missing a family in Chicago 4th ward a ton but I am just happy to be serving in the area I am now! We are starting to find more success here in this area! 

I love you Mom! Have a great day!

NO TIME TODAY

Hey Mom I don't have any time today because we are with the new missionaries! I love you though mom and I hope you have a great day! :)

SHREDDING CLOTHES

This week has gone by so fast! So this week was a pretty rough week clothing wise jahaha. Yesterday at church we were sitting there and I got up and my suit pocket got caught one one of the arm rests of the chairs in the auditorium of the school where we do sacrament and it totally just shredded a part of it! Then earlier in the week I ripped a pair of my suit pants so now I am just trying to see if  one of the senior missionaries can fix them hahaha. 

We had a sweet week this week though missionary wise! It was hard because some of our investigators who we are working with were in spring break so they weren't able to come to church but hopefully soon! We are teaching this new guy named Chris Roney though and he is so Legit!! He wants the gospel to be true so badly and we just barely started working with him and we had a lesson with him and he came to church on Sunday! We went to two wards on Sunday we went to the Single adults branch and then go the YSA after and he stayed for the whole time of the single adults and then for part of ours! He is one of my favorite people I have ever met! 

Then we had a great lesson with Aly again and she basically taught us the Word of Wisdom and bore testimony of it! She is one of those people that every missionary dreams of finding! She is so sweet and it's way funny because they know that I love sweets so every lesson that we have with them they always bring us cookies or something sweet like that! 

I love missionary work and I am loving Elder Zacher! We are having lots of fun together! Of and also this week Elder L Tom Perry is coming so we are excited for that! Have a great day and I am happy you are staying healthy!

Elder Garrett Eichers

Illinois Chicago Mission

MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE

This week was great! We had a huge miracle at church this week! So earlier this week we were walking downtown going to stop by a former investigators house and as we were walking there we talked to these two people, their names are Thomas and Tabby! They are students at a religious school here called Moody Bible institute. In the teaching pool of us and the sisters in our ward there are about 10 moody bible students now! The school is a religious school but all of them are interested in our church! But anyways, on Saturday, we texted them and so this week we are going to meet up with Tabby but Thomas was like hey I want to come to church with you! So this week he came to church with his roommate Andrew! It was so sweet! It was the first time on my mission that somebody had come to church with out us teaching them first! We have really high hopes for them and we are going to meet up with them this week!

We also are working really closely with a member named Molly! She is honestly one of my favorite people I have ever met! She is getting married this summer and is probably going to move to Utah so I want her and Annie to be best friends! I told that to Molly and so she added Annie on Facebook!

Everything is great though here! I am praying to love the work and the area more and I can really see the potential here in this area! I love Chicago with all of my heart!

Also, this week we are having a member of the 70 come and his name is Elder Zwick so tomorrow we have an all mission meeting!

I hope you have a great day!

Elder Garrett Eichers
Illinois Chicago Mission