Ua tupu te hoê bapetizoraa e faaipoiporaa i te hebedoma i ma'iri a'enei

translation: a baptism and a mariage happened last week!!!!

Our Investigator Liliokalani got married and then baptized!!! we're so happy for her:) I'll attach some photos too. 

Our investigator J dissapeared the other day from his appartement and then was found in Arue( a city pretty far from Faa'a when you go on foot...He's like 70 as well. Apparently he was really fiu(fed up/annoyed/done/bored in tahitian) with the members he was living with. So he left. He ended up calling them(one of them is his son-in-law) saying that he didn't want to come back. we found this out because we had a lesson fixed and he wasn't there and then the members that he lived with explained us the whole story. I love J so much. I was sad to hear that he left. They also don't have any contact info. for him. all they know is that he is in pamata'i(another area in Faa'a) and he's with his daughter.

G is doing great too!! he decided that he's going to live in a different place than his girlfriend until their mariage so that he can get baptized. He's so great!!! he'll probably get baptized next week or the week after because he's super ready haha. 

The weather here is really interesting haha. When it gets really hot, we all know that it's going to rain, then it rains not long after, then it clears up, then it comes back. In tahitian to say"it's raining" you say "E ua" but it's really funny when they say it. It's probably my favorite phrase in tahitian. 

Also I ate raclette(delicious cheese melted on potatoes) and coconut flan for Thanksgiving with our dinner appointment. They didn't even know it was Thanksgiving haha. 

Other than that, all is well. I love it here. 

I love you all!!

-Elder Christensen

E mea hakata roa te Noela!!!

Christmas is soon!!)

Today in Carrefour(the biggest grocery store in French Polynesia) I heard piano guys christmas music haha. We were with other missionaries in the store and we were all dying haha. 

This week was really great. A lot happened. One of our investigators yelled at us saying he doesn't want to talk to us anymore because he doesn't believe in Joseph Smith. (this is all in tahitian btw and that makes it 500 times more intense) I just asked him calmly if he read the Book of Mormon and if he prayed about it). he said no he didn't read and yes he did pray and doesn't want to hear our false teachings anymore. I was sad but at the end he shook our hands and thanked us for what we had done. (that's not uncommon here) at the end of moments like that, you're likely to get a handshake or a mauruuru. I love these people. Even in anger they love the missionaries haha. 

On saturday we went to the temple(which is right next to our zone) with our Investigator John(this really old papi) and we walked around the temple and talked about the different things that are done inside. Really cool experience because my french companion talked and asked me to translate what he said for him into to tahitian because John doesn't understand the gospel in french. It was great. That same day one of our district leaders called us and said that him and his comp had fixed a baptism that morning for 2 o clock in the afternoon. It was 11 o clock when he called. So we sped back to the zone and I left my comp to do the interview and I took the district leader(Elder Jenkins) and we did a lesson with Gervais and the chapelle and after that we sped back to another chapelle for the baptism. It was crazy and a great experience. Super stressful but the spirit was strong that day. I love this Gospel!!!

Our investigator Liliokalani is getting married on Friday and baptized just after. Her boyfriend is an inactive(soon active) member and I love them so much:)

Spiritual thought

I just read 2 Néphi 24 in the Book of Mormon and it basically bashes on Satan and how much we shouldn't even give him the time of day haha and that after this life we will see him and be shocked at how much power he doesn't have compared to our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. Yes there are temptations in this life but everything is surmontable with our Savior. I love him and I'm learning to rely on him every day in order to overcome my weaknesses. It's a slow process but it's moving haha. I love you all!!

-Elder Christensen

: Te Buka a Mormona. O te tahi ïa faahou ite no Iesu Mesia ta tatou i hinaaro no te haere i mua i roto i teie oraraa

translation: The Book of Mormon. Another Testament of Jesus Christ that we need to advance in this life.

Ia ora na tatou

THis week was great!!!

We had conseil de dirigeants on wednesday. (I think its mission leadership counsel in English) All the Zone leaders and sister training leaders get together and we talk about things that we can do better and things that we're doing well. It was great. Kinda stressed me out a bit because there is so much to do! But I loved it. 

I'd like to just share an experience with you all. 

We have an investigator whose name is Gervais. He's at university and he's just great. All this week he wanted to see us and we were supposed to see him saturday but his in laws came so he had to go to the other end of the island. But he came to church yesterday and he seemed so happy. We had alesson fixed with him for yesterday at 4 in the afternoon but we showed up and he told us that he was still busy and asked us if we could come back later in the night. So we fixed to come back at 8. First time that I've ever done a lesson that late to be honest. We show up and he showed up at the same time as us. Anyway he then started asking questions about what he read. I'm telling you. Gervais feasts upon the words of Christ. He has so many sticky notes and papers in the Book of Mormon with his questions on it. He uses all the references and is just so awesome. He then started telling us that he had a really hard week and al lhe wanted to do was see us and was afraid that we would no longer want to see him because he kept pushing back the lessons. We assured him that everything was okay. 

Then he started to tear up in explaining that he felt like he couldn't handle it anymore that week and he took his Book of Mormon everywhere and when he opened it, he just felt so touched and looked at a reference that gave him the definition of temptation which is,"A test of a person’s ability to choose good instead of evil; an enticement to sin and follow Satan instead of God. 

He told us that he was ready to just let out his anger on everyone but then he read that and was really touched. When he shared that I felt so much love for him. The spirit was really strong to be honest. It felt like a big hug. I love the BOok of Mormon and our investigators. This gospel is true!!!

Love you all

-Elder Christensen
​my comp is fourth from the right on top. 

Ua tupu faahou i te mau tauiraa e ua riro to'u hoa misionare ei tauturu no te Peresideni !

Translation: There were transfers that happened and my comp became assistant! Currently both of the assistants have been my companions. The other assistant is still Elder Crandall my MTC comp. He's so great haha. It was good to see him today. HE's been assistant for 7 and half months. That poor elder haha.

Anyway. A great week. Not too much to report. My new companion is Elder Alfred from France. He's from the same stake as my other French companion Elder Sylvestre who I was with in Bora. I'm stoked to serve with him. 

Nothing much. The zone is changing a bit with the transfers. But it's all good. A little sad to say goodbye to some missionaries that are going home as well. But that's life I guess.

Our investigators are doing well. Roméo and Tini are just the best. they read the Book of Mormon almost 3 times a day sometimes.  They have changed so much. They help me to have an even stronger testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that book is true. IT has changed my life and I'm seeing it change the lives of others. I invite you all to read it and pray to God to know if it's true. In doing so you can receive an answer and knowing that that book is true means that the Gospel was restored upon this earth! I love it! 

Time for pictures

Soeur Durrant(I was in the MTC with her)

Elder Donadier

saw Manarua and his family the other day(from Tefana)

​

Soeur Luka (ONe of our Sister Training Leaders who is going out to the islands and Soeur Hemsley -she whitewashed Tefana when I went out to Bora and she's going to Huahine)

​

Elder Dieutre

Elder Langomazino
​