Being fishers of men... and fish

Transfers are coming up soon and Christopher has a feeling that there might be a change in the wind.  The fact that he has been serving in Arcade for the last six months and the fact that he has had the same companion for four and a half of the six months, is probably a good clue.  Christopher has told us that he doesn't know if he will get transferred to another area or if he will get a new companion.  By this time next week, we'll see what happens. 

It has been stated many times on this blog that Christopher has told us just how much he loves Arcade and the members of the Branch there.  Both Christopher and his companion have had some really good success and the blessings are still flowing.  This last week they had another baptism which totals up to be about eleven baptisms in the last six months.  Christopher also said that they are currently working with some really good people now and hopes that they progress as well.

The members of the Branch have been really good to help the missionaries.  Christopher told us that they have been teaching some of their investigators at one of the member's homes in the area.  Not too long ago they had an appointment set up to teach at the member's home but the person that they were to teach, was running a little late.  The family who owns the house lives right on a lake.  So, while they waited for their investigator to arrive, Christopher went out in the backyard of the home to take a closer look at the lake.  The first thing that he noticed was that this lake seemed to have a lot of fish swimming around.  So, Christopher decided to do a little fishing.  Of course being missionaries, he didn't really have a fishing pole handy so he started looking around to see if he could find a net or something.  As it turned out, there just happened to be an old fishing pole with a rusty old hook still attached, just under the deck.  That seemed to solved the fishing equipment problem, but what about bait?  Well, it wasn't long before he solved that problem as well.  Like every fisherman knows, old stale pizza fresh out of the garbage works perfect for bait.  They baited up the hook with some pizza bits and before you know it, they were catching fish faster than you could imagine.  Apparently the fish in this lake must be tired of the bugs and worms around the shore so when they got a good look at the old pizza bits, they just couldn't resist.  Of course Christopher had to send us some pictures, so here you go.

Oh but the story doesn't end there.  They were so successful catching fish with pizza bits, that they decided to try it again.  The result was something even bigger.  Take a look.

From the looks of it, Christopher and his companion will be eating a lot of fish for the next few weeks.  I think we better send him some good fish recipes.

In Christopher's last letter home he talked about all of the work that he and his companion have to do in order to make sure that they stay busy and use their time as effectively as possible.  Christopher told us that they spent a lot of time over the last week making a lot of phone calls and planning out who they were going to see and what lessons they had to teach.  From what he said, all of the hard work really panned out.  Christopher said that during the week, they had a lot of teaching appointments lined up and they would probably be busier than they have ever been.  In fact, they were so busy that they skipped their P-day so that they could spend the time teaching and working.  But as a missionary, being too busy is a good problem to have.  Then to follow that up, Christopher said that they had a zone conference in the Sacred Grove as well.  The speakers at the conference were Alex Boye of the Tabernacle Choir and Elder Duncan of the First Quorum of the Seventy.  Christopher said that it was just an amazing day.

Needless to say that a lot of good things are happening with Christopher right now.  He is down to his last six months of his mission and he realizes that the time is going by fast.  With the Hill Cumorah Pageant coming up in July, he is kind of hoping to be moved to an area that is a little closer to the Pageant.  But, we'll see.  He just wants to be able to spent his time serving well.

Mother's Day is a time when missionaries call home

Transfers came and went and Christopher is still in Arcade, New York with the same companion.  By the end of this transfer both Christopher and his companion will have  been together about six months in the same area.  But given the fact that they have been very successful in Arcade, staying together for another transfer is probably a good thing.  So far, Christopher and his companion have had ten baptisms in the Freedom Branch in Arcade and they are hoping to have at least a couple more in the next few weeks.  In fact, Christopher told us that the Branch President called Christopher's Mission President to request that he keep Christopher and his companion in the Branch for a little while longer.  Hopefully things will go as well this transfer as they have in the past and they will be able to continue having success. 

Today, being Mother's Day, Christopher was able to call home and we were able to talk to him for a little over an hour.  Again, Christopher told us just how much he loves being in Arcade and how well he and his companion have been doing there.  Christopher told us that Arcade has definitely been his favorite assignment in the mission so far and that his current companion has been his favorite.  There is an interesting twist to this companionship however.  Christopher's companion is mildly autistic and at times this has proven to be very frustrating for both of them.  There are a lot of stories that Christopher has shared with us that I won't include here.  But they are stories about some of their good times, frustrating times, humorous times and progression.  Both Christopher and his companion have both learned a lot from this companionship which has caused them both to progress in the Gospel and in life lessons in many different ways.  This is actually the main reason why Christopher also requested that his Mission President leave them together for another transfer as well.  Their time together as been very rough at times, but the blessings and lessons learned, have been worth it all and more.

Speaking of companionships, Christopher told us a funny story recently about he and his companion.  For those that know Christopher, he has always liked to "dress to impress".  Well, his companion has kind of a different view point when it comes to style and dress.  Christopher told us that after a lot of convincing he was finally able to talk his companion into changing up his style with a new hair cut.  Apparently his previous hair style was a bit military and just wasn't quite up to date, so a change was in order.  To say the least, once his companion decided that he would try out a new hair cut, people really noticed and it seemed to make a big difference.  After the hair style change, the next thing on the agenda was his style of clothes.  According to Christopher, this change basically came purely by accident.  A few weeks ago both Christopher and his companion decided that it was time to take their suits into the dry cleaners.  Of course, they usually only wear their full suits to special meetings such has Sunday meetings or mission conferences.  The rest of the week they just where the normal missionary white shirt and tie.  The problem was that Christopher's companion's suit didn't come back from the dry cleaners in time for the Sunday meetings and fireside that was scheduled for the next day.  Since Christopher's companion only had one suit, this left him without a suit for the meetings.  That Saturday night while Christopher was in the front room reading, his companion walked out wearing this navy blue suite that seemed to fit him perfectly.  The strange thing about it was that it was a suit that Christopher had never seen before and he wondered where it came from.  As it turned out, a previous missionary who had served in the area, had left the suit in the back of the closet after he had transferred to another area.  Christopher said that his companion looked great in this new suit and that it fit so well you would have thought that the suit was tailor made just for him.  The next day when they attended the fireside at the Church, Christopher's companion, sporting his new hair cut and suit, received all kinds of attention by all of the other missionaries.  The Sister missionaries especially loved the new look and even the Mission President commented on just how great Christopher's companion looked and told him that he should stick with this new style.  Leave it to Christopher to make sure that his companion gets GQ'ed up and is "dressed to impress".

Being a missionary and serving in places that might be new and different, presents all kind of unique experiences.  Many if not most of these experiences are once in a lifetime types of things.  In one of Christopher's recent letters home he told us all about one of these experiences.

"So this week I had an extremely unique experience...... I saw a pig be castrated..... it was really something and I can't believe how loud those things can squeal!!!! I actually felt really bad for the poor pig, he looked absolutely terrible after the whole thing was over. But ya, it was really something. That's just how out in the middle of nowhere we are! haha I'm sure I'll probably never see something like that ever again. So that's probably the highlight of the week! haha I also milked a goat this week too! That was pretty fun and another one of those things I might never again do. This coming week we are going to help out on a dairy farm, so that should be fun as well!"

OK, so maybe these weren't the most spiritual experiences that a missionary might have, but they were once in a lifetime experiences none the less. 

Speaking of unique experiences, Christopher also told us about a trip to the Palmyra temple with the youth and several other members of the Branch in his area.  The Palmyra temple is a smaller temple and usually does not have enough people to staff everything like some of the larger temples.  Therefore, they were required to handle just about everything that needed to be done in the baptistery from actually performing the baptisms for the dead, to confirmations, to acting as witnesses and making sure that everything was recorded correctly.  Christopher told us just how special this experience was especially when several of the Branch members brought names of their ancestors in order to perform the temple work for their own family members who had passed on.  Here is an example of another once in a lifetime experience.  To be performing temple work in the heart of the area where the Church was restored is truly unique. 

Anyway, it was great to talk with Christopher on Mother's Day and I know that he was really excited as well.  He sounded really good which has also been reflected in many of the letters that he has set home over the past several months.  His time in Arcade has really been a turning point in his mission and a great learning experience as well.  This will probably be the last time that Christopher is able to call home before he actually completes his mission.  Our hopes and prayers are that the last six months of his mission are just as successful as the previous six months have been. 

Teaching about the restoration from right where it all happened

Just when you think that things for Christopher can't really get any better, he sends home a great letter telling us all about how great his week has gone.  In one of his recent letters home, he told us about receiving a phone call from his Branch President with some good news about the progress that a few investigators have made and their decisions to be baptized. He also told us about how great the Branch is where he is serving and how good they are about fellowshipping new members of the Church and introducing their friends and neighbors to the Gospel. All of this has done as much to help Christopher to learn and grow as it has the people that he and his companion have been teaching.  In his letter he said:

"I can't even express to you how grateful I am that I came on this mission! I had no idea what I had before I came out here. I didn't realize what the Book of Mormon truly was, what having a prophet and apostles on the earth really meant, what modern revelation means for me in my life and how knowing the truth could give me everything I've ever wanted. In the beginning I thought the end couldn't come soon enough, but now I feel like time is slipping away and I know I'm going to miss this so much. It's been an incredible experience and I'll never get to do anything quite like this ever again. I can honestly say now that I love my mission and that it means everything to me."

Christopher shared with us an experience that no other missionary in any other mission gets to have.  He told us that serving in the mission where the Sacred Grove is located provides them with a unique opportunity.  For any of you who have served a mission in the past, you can probably still repeat the first lesson which is all about the first vision, Joseph Smith and the restoration.  The lesson talks about how Joseph Smith was seeking very earnestly to know which church he should join.  Then after having read in the Bible that he should ask God and that God will answer his prayers, Joseph decided to go to a nearby grove of trees to pray.  We know this grove of trees as the Sacred Grove.  Being so close to the Sacred Grove, Christopher is able to not only teach the first lesson just like we all did as missionaries, he also gets to turn this first lesson into an object lesson as well.  After teaching investigators about Joseph Smith and the first vision, he and his companion can then take the investigators to the actual grove of trees where it all happened and let them feel of the spirit first hand.  No where else in the world can a missionary do that.  Christopher told us just how grateful he is to be in the Rochester, New York mission and to be serving so close to where the restoration of the Church all happened.

For whatever reason, both Christopher as well as his younger brother who recently returned from his mission, love to speak in Church.  Most people hate getting the phone call from a member of the Bishopric asking if they would be willing to speak in Church.  But Christopher told us in his last letter that he just recently gave a talk in Church about resurrection and hopes that he will get more opportunities to do it again.  Of course unlike the rest of us, he has the right attitude towards speaking in Church as well.  He told us that he likes it so much because it gives him a chance to learn more about the Gospel.  He said that he thinks that he still needs more practice because he gets nervous just before he gets up to speak.  I think that being nervous before you speak is natural and probably helps you to focus a little better.  Christopher told us that speaking about the resurrection helped him to understand the first vision better.  The reason why is because of the experience of Joseph Smith seeing God and Jesus Christ as two separate beings with bodies that are the same as ours.  It also helped him to understand more about how both the teachings of the Bible and the Book of Mormon complement each other when it comes to understanding what it means to be resurrected. Anyway, it is always great to hear about how Christopher's mission is teaching him more about the Gospel and life.

We aren't quite sure what prompted Christopher to buy a puzzle featuring actors from the old TV show, "90210".  Christopher told us that they were at the Salvation Army store one day and he thought that the puzzle was kind of funny, so he bought it.  He and his companion put the puzzle together and then somehow, hung it on their wall.  So here is a picture of Christopher with is "90210" masterpiece.

A good problem to have

In Christopher's latest letters home he has expressed just how great his mission is going and just how much he loves the Arcade area.  Christopher told us that the branch members there are wonderful and very supportive of the missionaries.  Just a few weeks ago he told us that he and his companion had eleven investigators at church on Sunday and that wasn't even counting the regulars.  Christopher was really excited about that but we wondered what he meant by "the regulars".  Apparently, there are several people that attend church quite often in the branch but who aren't actually members of the church.  In fact Christopher said that there is one person who they have been teaching who has been investigating the church for about ten years.  He has become good friends with this person and loves to sit down with them and have gospel discussions as well as talk about other subjects.  Christopher has always been one for a good deep discussion about almost anything, so I am sure that he has really enjoyed engaging in conversation such as this. 

Anyway, over the past 3-4 weeks, Christopher and his companion have taught and baptised five different people.  According to Christopher, having that many baptisms in such a short period of time is basically unheard of in his mission.  He feels like both he and his companion have been really blessed.  In fact Christopher recently told us that both he and his companion have really been trying to put things in the Lord's hands especially with their missionary work.  During the same period of time they have been putting an extra effort into fasting and praying for the people that they have been teaching.  Christopher said that he could really see the difference that this has made in both his life as well as the lives of the people who have recently been baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Christopher and his companion have been getting along great which has really helped in moving the work forward.  Of course there are always the little things in a companionship that drives one or the other a bit crazy.  Christopher told us that his companion loves to sing to every song that they listen to.  Granted that the variety of music that a missionary is allowed to listen to is very narrow.  Basically, they are only allowed to listen to church hymns, some classical music and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Christopher told us that no matter what the song is, if it has words his companion loves to sing along.  I am sure that for his companion, he is just feeling the spirit of the song and wants to enjoy it fully.  But his singing might not always be up to "American Idol" standards.  So in order to keep the peace, Christopher has been playing more music without words.  I am assuming that by doing so, they can both enjoy the music without any distractions.  The way I see it, the Lord doesn't really care about how well you sing and if singing along with the Tabernacle Choir brings the spirit, by all means, sing along.  I'm sure that the mo'tab doesn't mind. 

Speaking of funny stories, OK maybe we weren't speaking of funny stories, but Christopher told us a funny one in his last email.  Just recently both Christopher and his companion were at a dinner appointment with a family in their branch.  After dinner it was time for dessert so the member family told Christopher's companion that there was some vanilla ice cream in the freezer.  His companion looked in the freezer and pulled out the first ice cream bucket that he saw and proceeded to scoop himself up a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream.  As he was digging into the bucket, something looked a little off to Christopher.  As Christopher described it, the ice cream looked a little more like wax than ice cream.  At that point Christopher asked the member family how old the ice cream was and they said that they had just purchased it from the store a few days ago.  With the reconfirmation that the ice cream was indeed good, Christopher's companion kept on scooping it into his bowl.  Still, something seemed off so Christopher told his companion to taste a bit of the ice cream before he scooped up any more.  Just to satisfy Christopher's concerns, his companion popped a bit of the ice cream in his mouth expecting to taste the sweetness of vanilla.  However, whatever it was that he popped in his mouth, tasted anything but sweet.  In fact it tasted so nasty that he almost puked right there.  At that point the member family walked over to see what was going on and discovered that Christopher's companion had pulled a tub of frozen pig lard out of the freezer that just so happened to have been stored in a leftover vanilla ice cream tub.  We never heard if they actually got dessert that night or if after that experience, they even had an appetite for dessert.  But they did get a good laugh over the whole incident and now they both know what pig lard looks like.

With all of the recent baptisms that Christopher and his companion have had over the last several weeks, Christopher told us that their teaching pool is getting quite low.  To him however, this has been a blessing and a good problem to have.  It is much better to have a low teaching pool because the people that you are teaching have gained a testimony of the church and have decided to be baptized, rather than the alternative.  Over the last year of his mission Christopher has told us that he actually likes tracting.  So I guess with their new found teaching pool problem, both Christopher and his companion will experience a little more of the tracting they love so much.  Oh by the way, one of "the regulars" at church who had been an investigator for the past ten years, as of the baptismal service that was held last week, they are no longer investigating. :-) 

The work is moving forward in Arcade

Transfers came and went and Christopher's former companion completed his mission and returned home to his family.  Christopher now has a new companion and both of them are still in Arcade, New York.  From what Christopher has been telling us, the work in Arcade has been going really well.  This is what he said a few weeks ago just before his former companion returned home:

"As far as missionary work goes, this last week was a really really good one! One of my best actually. We got tons done! We did a lot of finding and have a bunch of new investigators, some of them are quite promising too! I'm excited for everything that's going on here right now! This week is my companion's last so we're gonna have to do even more this week to send him out with a bang!"

About a week later Christopher sent us another letter with more great news.

"Things out here in New York are going well! This area of ours is booming!!!!!! We had 12, yes 12 investigators at church yesterday! Honestly we could have like 8 baptisms this next transfer. It's pretty nuts how blessed we've been as of late. We've just been talking to lots of people and finding more and more investigators and miracles are happening! Its incredible!"

In a later email Christopher told us more about the people that he and his new companion are now teaching.  He told us just how great they are and how excited they are about the church.  Christopher and his companion have set some baptismal dates with a few of the people that they are teaching. He is really excited to see them become members of the church and to watch them continue to learn and grow in the gospel.  It is great to see just how excited Christopher is about his area, his companion and all of the people who are members of the church as well as investigators. 

Christopher has been in New York for over a year now.  It is amazing to see just how fast time goes by.  It seems like it was just yesterday when we dropped Christopher off at the MTC to start his mission.  Christopher's new companion has only been out for a few months.  Christopher told us in his last letter that he really enjoys talking with his companion and that they both have some of the most "interesting" conversations.  Christopher has never been one for just the normal boring discussion.  Most of the time he likes to start a conversation by thinking "outside of the box".  Things like, if you had the opportunity, which person would you want to sit down and have a conversation with, Emma or Joseph Smith?  Of course the answer to that question for most of us would be obvious but for the sake of their discussion they talk about the "whys" and "hows" of the fictitious conversations they might have.  Think about it, if you could sit down with Emma Smith, wouldn't that be just as great of a conversation to have as it would be with Joseph?  There is always a lot to learn no matter what opportunities you are presented with and Christopher and his companion seem to like to explore those possibilities even though they aren't real.  Funny what missionaries come up with to pass the time while they are traveling to their next appointment.  Anyway, Christopher told us that his companion is way funny and that they have a lot of great talks.

Christopher mentioned to us a few weeks ago that he and his companion were going to help one of their investigators who they are currently teaching, tap Sugar Maple trees on a nearby farm.  That day finally came and Christopher told us that they tapped about 100 trees and that it fun but very cold that day.  We didn't get many more details than that so hopefully Christopher will send us some pictures so that we can see how it went.  Christopher did go on to say just how strange the weather has been in western New York.  Not a lot of snow but it has been very cold.

Getting stuck and working through it

After about five months in Buffalo, Christopher has been transferred to a small town called Arcade.  Christopher really enjoyed serving in Buffalo and he and his companion were doing really well there.  But his companion was called to help train a new Spanish speaking Elder.  When I say Spanish speaking, apparently this new Elder only speaks Spanish.  For that reason, the mission President needed a Spanish speaking trainer and Christopher's former companion filled the need.  Christopher told us that even though Arcade is a very small town, he really likes it there and also really likes his new companion.  The only problem is that his new companion goes home at the end of the transfer so they will only serve together for about six weeks.  This will be Christopher's fourth companion in four transfers. 

The other big news besides the transfer is that Christopher finally has a car.  For the past year he has served in areas where their only mode of transportation was by foot.  The interesting thing about this car is that it is actually a truck.  But not just any old truck, it is a 4x4 truck.  Christopher said that this is really fortunate especially due to the fact that this area of New York gets a lot of snow during this time of year.  When you combine that with the fact that there are a lot of country roads that they have to travel from time to time, a 4x4 truck will really come in handy.  Speaking of snow, it sounds like not a lot of snow has fallen so far this year.  Christopher told us that they got a little bit of snow a few weeks ago but since then it had warmed up and turned into mud.  I guess the 4x4 truck will probably do well in the mud also.   Then again, maybe not.

In a recent letter about a week ago, Christopher said that he and his companion teamed up with some kids from their branch on exchanges.  That day it just happened to snow quite a bit and the branch member that Christopher teamed up with, was driving.  They were both headed down one of the country roads outside of town when this kid from the Branch who was driving, turned to point out a "Dead End" sign.  Before they knew it, they were off the road and into a ditch.  Apparently the car was stuck so deep off the side of the road that there was no way that they were going to get it out without some help.  Both Christopher and the Branch member decided that it would be best to try to walk back to a house that they had seen.  It turned out to be about a two mile walk before they finally arrived at the house where they were able to ask for some help.  Luckily the owner of the house had a big enough truck to pull them out of the ditch and send them on their way.  Then to cap all of that off, Christopher went on an exchange with these same kids from the branch about a week later.  There must be some bad luck going on here or maybe there is some kind of lesson to be learned, but here they were a week later stuck in a ditch again on an unplowed snowy road.  This time they were in the 4x4 truck which was having problems staying in 4-wheel drive.  After several attempts to travel down the country road in a truck whose 4-wheel drive capability was in question, they finally gave up, turned around and went home. 

Christopher told us that there are some real advantages to living out in the country.  Some of those advantages include good food and a lot of it.  What he meant by that is that many of the members of the branch live on farms with chickens, pigs and maple trees.  Christopher said that the members have given them a ton of free eggs, bacon and a load of maple syrup.  In fact he told us that next month they are going with one of their investigators to tap 400 maple tree.  That sounds like a once in a life time opportunity for Christopher, who comes from an area of the country where those kinds of maple trees just don't exist.

Christopher has told us several times over the past couple of weeks that he really likes it in his new area in Arcade.  In fact he told us that he has become a real hit with the ladies in the area.  Well, at least with the ladies under the age of eight years old. Apparently several mothers of these young ladies have told Christopher that their daughters have a crush on him.  In fact one of the little girls herself told Christopher that right to his face.  Christopher said that one night he and his companion were at this girl's house eating dinner with her family.  After dinner Christopher and his companion presented a little lesson to the family and then played a game of hangman.  Throughout the night this little girl would make sure that she got the seat right next to Christopher.  Then during the game of hangman this little girl started edging closer and closer until at one point Christopher could feel this little hand on his shoulder.  He then quickly glanced over at this little girl, caught her eye and immediately she pulled her arm way as if she were shy and a little embarrassed.  According to Christopher, this little girl is anything but shy.  Christopher got a good laugh out of this and figures that this probably won't be the last time this little girl makes a move. 

Time is really starting to fly by for Christopher.  He told us that he and his companion have been teaching a lot of lessons and just working hard as missionaries.  He recently sent us sever pictures of some of the people who he had been teaching and have been baptized.  He said that the days just all seem to merge together and that sometimes it is hard to remember everything that has happened over the past week because it is just filled with so many different experiences every day.

Christmas is even better when a missionary calls home

The holiday season is here again and it is great to hear from our missionary at Christmas time.  Last year at this time Christopher was at home getting ready to enter the MTC while his younger brother was calling home on Christmas day from his mission.  This year the tables are turned.  Christopher's younger brother is now back from his mission and talking to Christopher from home.  Anyway, this is the second time that Christopher has been able to call home since he left a year ago.  The last time Christopher called home was on Mother's Day about six months ago.  On Christmas day Christopher called us just as we were getting home from our Sunday church meetings.  It was really good to hear from him and to talk to him for a while.  He told us a few stories that I won't be able to share on the blog but in addition to that, he also just let us know how he has been doing.  We didn't know this before but is current companion is one of the Spanish speaking Elders in his mission.  I asked Christopher if they teach many Spanish speaking people and he said that they do occasionally.  Christopher told us that he will probably be getting a new companion in he next week or so because his current companion has been assigned to train a new Spanish speaking missionary.  We haven't heard yet where Christopher will be transferred to, but we expect to find out on his next P-Day.

Christopher told us that Thanksgiving went really well for him.  They were invited for Thanksgiving dinner by several different families but since they don't have a car, getting from one place to another can be kind of difficult.  So rather than trying to travel around from place to place, they ended up spending most of Thanksgiving with one family.  As a result, Thanksgiving turned out to be one of Christopher's greatest teaching experiences.  Christopher told us that he and his companion went to dinner with the family of a recent convert to the church who lives in their Ward.  Most of this member's relatives aren't members of the church which provided Christopher and his companion with a great teaching opportunity. 

Having several LDS missionaries show up at a family Thanksgiving dinner must have felt a little awkward.  Luckily for Christopher, he noticed that there were several musical instruments laying around.  According to Christopher, all of the instruments were one's that he could play.  Christopher started out playing the ukulele for a bit and them moved on to the banjo, piano and finally the guitar.  He taught his companion to play a part of a song on the ukulele and then taught another missionary a small part on the piano.  At that point they were able to put together an ad-hoc little band to kind of break the ice with all of the family members who had never really had much contact with LDS missionaries before. After this little impromptu concert, the conversation obviously turned to music.  As the night went on, eventually the conversation transitioned from music to missionary work and the gospel.  Not a big surprise for those who are members of the LDS church since music and the gospel basically go hand-in-hand.  There were quite a number of people listening in on this discussion for a while and Christopher said that he suddenly found himself teaching these family members all about the restoration and answering many of their questions.  Before the night was over, Christopher said that he found himself bearing one of the most sincere testimonies that he has ever given on his mission.  We haven't heard if anything more came out of this experience, but one thing is sure, it had a great impact on Christopher.

For exercise, Christopher and his companion like to play basketball.  They routinely get up early most mornings, run down to the church and shoot around in the gym for an hour.  Since there is only two of them, they have a certain drill that they like to run.  Christopher tried to explain the drill but I don't really get it.  It seems to work for them and they have a good time getting some exercise in the morning.  Speaking of basketball.  Christopher told us a good story during our Christmas day phone call.  Apparently there is an Elder in their mission whose forearms aren't completely developed.  Every once in a while several of the missionaries get together for a little 3-point shooting contest and this includes the missionary who is missing part of his arms. At one point this missionary stepped up and wanted to challenge another Elder in the contest.  One of the other Elders agreed and the contest began.  Christopher didn't give us all of the details about how it went but the result was that the Elder with no arms ended up beating the other missionary.  Christopher said that the funny part of the story is that now the mission President won't let the losing missionary forget that he lost a basketball 3-point contest to a kid with no arms.  That just goes to show you, if you want it bad enough, there is always a way.    

A few weeks back Christopher said that he attended a zone conference in Rochester.  That evening after the conference, several of the out-of-town missionaries stayed overnight at the mission home.  After the other missionaries had gone to bed, Christopher stayed up and took the opportunity to sit down with his mission President and have a good conversation for a couple of hours.  Christopher didn't really go into detail about the conversation that they had, but he did say just how great his mission President is and how much he respects and admires him.  Christopher feels that he has really been blessed to be called to the Rochester mission and to have President Christiansen has is mission president.

Christopher told us about one small experience that he had just a few weeks ago.  One morning he and his companion decided that for their companionship study, they would spend their time studying more about priesthood authority.  The thing that they didn't know at that time was that later on in the day they would be using everything that they studied to answer several questions from one of their investigators.  Christopher felt that both he and his companion were lead to exactly what they needed so that they would be prepared at the right time to provide answers to questions that the might not have otherwise been able to answer.  For Christopher, this was just another one of the small miracles that happens while serving a mission.