Elder Sam Christensen

Sam sent us the following email and pictures on Monday, December 14, 2014. Our questions and comments are in italics.Emily is completing her mission this week and will be home with us on Friday, December 19th!

Man there's all this excitement going on at home and I just want to be a part of it so bad!

I got the Christmas package on Wednesday and was enjoying everything in it. I also received the Halloween letter on that same day, so that gave it a nice touch. Thank you so much for everything in there. The candy is great and the letters are better. Nate's was my favorite--sorry everyone. His opening sentence was "Things have never been more lame at the house." I mean, how do you top that?! And mom, the nativity set is totally adorbs! Thanks for spending so much time making that and sending it. I really do like it! That being said, I was wanting to ask you a question about it. Would you be upset if I were to give it to a family here? We've taught them the Christmas lesson and they don't know much about Christmas, but when we went to their house last night they had bought a small string of lights from a little store and strung them up to try and get in the spirit of Christmas. There was a little spot on a table that looked like it was just missing a little nativity scene, and I feel like having a nativity scene would mean so much to them. I want to keep it, but I feel like it would be for the greater good if they had it and they could get it out every year for Christmas. You can let me know on that.

The zone conference we had on Wednesday was pretty good. Elder Yorgason was there and I got to sit next to him for most of the day and talk to him, so it was fun. We had "mexican pizzas" (I also had it later this week on the exchange), which were good. Like, it's bad Mexican food, but because we're in Cambodia it becomes good Mexican food.

Like I talked a little bit about last week, people do not know when Christmas is. Only a few. Example: a guy we taught this last week we asked if he knew what Christmas was and he said it was Jesus's birthday. Wow, I'm super impressed, so I ask him a follow-up question because he answered correctly the first time. "Do you know what day we celebrate Christmas?" He answers now with increased confidence "For our church.....they celebrate every Saturday." I told him he was so close!

English class isn't as big of a deal for me here as it was before. Before I had to teach a class so I'd prepare and teach all by myself. Here, right now, we're just taking sign ins and then I join a class and sit by students and help them and they ask me questions that I don't understand, but I still try and help them.

I actually went on an exchange this past week and that was kind of a fun change of pace. We were actually riding in his area and we rode past a white guy on a moto and he yelled out "Go back to Utah!" So that's something I really haven't heard since I got here. It was also nice to have another white french person with me to absorb the blows of being in the minority. We talked to one guy for a long time who we contacted. He spoke in English. Long story short, I asked him if he believed in God and he named a bunch of different Gods, but for like God God, like our God, he told us that there's no proof of God. Me and the companion on the exchange were just completely dead silent for like 10 seconds. Finally I was like "....earth?" Cause you know, we were talking while standing in the middle of the jungle. But he said that no one made nature or something like that. OK, pal. Also we kind of contacted a monk.

I decided yesterday that my relationship with my companion is a lot like that between Zelda and Ivy in the picture book, just not as sweet and decidedly more sinister. But we're still trying to survive here.

[In my email to Sam, I thanked him for telling me last week that he loved me back. :)] Thanks for all your updates mom. I know I don't usually have a lot to respond to them, but I do enjoy reading them and hearing what's going on with people at home and who's where and doing what. I really do love you, mother! And all of you as well!

I won't get to have a P day next Monday because we're going to have days off for Christmas, so don't worry about emailing.

I need to take more pictures because I haven't taken many and the ones I have aren't very good. I'll send a couple. I guess the next time I'll talk to you will be Skype in a week and a half. Have I told you before how much I don't like talking via skype? It always seems so awkward. Think of some good conversation points and I'll do the same.

Love you and miss you! Drive safely to California and give Emily all my loves and kisses.

You look closely and that whole truck is filled with ducks. Also they're speeding at probably 60 miles an hour or so and there's people riding on top. I've seen several trucks just filled to the brim full of pigs that have been packed in and are heading to Phnom Penh to be slaughtered. Just not stuff you see on an average day in america. Cambodia.

And two hilarious old people that we teach that are recent converts and you have to yell so they can hear you. One of them is 81 and I have a picture of him from when he climbed a palm tree. In this picture they're both putting in eye drops