WE'RE ALL A LITTLE CRAZY

[Background editorial note: Chris has been randomly selected as a potential jury member for Culpeper County Circuit court. We have to send him a form to fill out in order for him to be exempt from this experience. Among the possible options are: having been convicted of treason or felony, being over 70, being a mother of a nursing child, being mentally impaired,or being personally responsible for a mentally impaired person--here at home we were having fun deciding which one Chris would choose as an excuse...the fact that he is simply not living here for the next two years is way too boring. We also got a notice that Chris owes $10 in overdue taxes for a little business selling toys and games online that he and Jeffrey started a few years ago. Clearly, Chris is a troublemaker.]

Hey, Family, whats up?

Yes, that is correct, I am a juror. I think I'll use that as a title from now on. Too bad I'm unable to fulfill my duty... I believe the "personally responsible for a person with a mental impairment requiring continuous care" is the option I'll take. I've already informed Elder Muro. He's not as crazy as Elder Gurrola, but still... c'mon, we're missionaries, we're all a little crazy.

Dad, just fork over 10 bucks. As CEO of Boompf Enterprises, I can't take the business to a bigger market with the history of offending a small farming county government like Culpeper. No one will respect the company. Plus someone might find out the business actually started in our basement in said farming community. If Boompf does go down for tax evasion, though, it would get me out of jury duty for sure.

Good job on your talk at church Amy! and Holly! That's really cool! And Happy Birthday again Ames! Hope Fred the frog gets along with the guppies. Fish are the best pets I think, because they don't make noise, don't smell... we did service for a family that RAISES dogs in their basement, and, well, it smelled, and there were like 50 puppies barking like crazy. They also had chickens. Holly would have loved it...

Speaking of birthdays, THANK YOU to EVERYONE - people have been quite jealous of the 5-6 packages and tons of letters I've gotten... it's all been great! Magura family, thank you for the recipe book! And all who contributed to it! It looks great, and I think I'll be trying it out today for P-day dinner! I'll see if I can use some of all this food we have in the fridge - people give us tons of stuff here, probably 4 bags of peaches, a bunch of fresh corn, cakes, trout, etc etc etc in our fridge. Hey, its Utah, remember? Also, thank you Aunt Jill--as ALWAYS, thank you for the letters and all you do to keep me updated. I always laugh when I read about Erica ("you are a TOY!") and all the adventures you all have. Kayla, haha, thanks for the box. Cd is sweet, and I'm finally gonna use them candles... lol. TO all, thank you for the cards and everything! It was a sweet continual birthday!

That's cool about Neil Anderson coming to your conference. He's already one of my favorite church leaders. Make sure to go meet him! And that's CRAZY about Steven and President Monson. That is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity! Hope Steven ASKS QUESTIONS. I probably could think of a couple...!

Ha, this week we got to meet with some Church representatives (besides us I mean)- there is a council that works with the Mission President and the General Authorities over this area, and we met with them with one of our Branch councils. It was cool, they taught the Branch leaders how to do ward missionary work, and what they need to do to help us here in this area. It's a sweet plan Elder L. Tom Perry made for this area, and they are putting it into effect immediately. SO we now have a full crew of like 10 branch missionaries - like half of the adults from the ward basically - and a branch mission leader from the Dominican Republic (Hermano Luna, he is a host of a spanish radio station in the area, they call him the "Mayimbe"). We're teaching them how to give discussions and help us teach. This of course is a little nerve racking since, well, they aren't exactly trained in teaching skills, and tact, and....help. We began trying to teach them how to teach something easy on Sunday night. We got as far as the Creation of the world. We explained very carefully that they only have 20 minutes to cover it all, and to pretend they are teaching children - SUPER simple. You'd think, anyway. They made it about as complicated as you could imagine haha. Well, their hearts are in the right place.

Of course, not an hour later after we explained all that, a well-meaning couple comes with us to help teach a lesson with some investigators and, when they asked a simple question about Adam (as in Adam and Eve), the husband we brought said (in Spanish), "Oh yes, ADAM! VERY IMPORTANT..." and launches into a huge dissertation that didn't make a lot of sense, in Spanish or English. Our investigators were very kind about it, though, and politely nodded now and then with fairly blank stares. I love Utah.

Despite all of this "help" we're getting, we're doing well! We had 10 investigators show up at church in one branch on Sunday! Plus about 15 children that tagged along with the parents! Looked really good with the representatives from the mission being there and all...

Haha, and I think the other noteworthy thing is that we taught a Family Home Evening lesson in "Little Mexico" last night - a trailer park in Hyrum. I love trailers. We taught a member family, their 3 brothers' families, and a nonmember family. And all their tons of kids. Imagine, one room of a trailer. TWENTY THREE PEOPLE IN ONE ROOM.

Mom, I am GOING TO SEND THE PACKAGE and I have the contact prescription and info in it. I PROMISE IT'S COMING.

Yeah, about the new edition of the Spanish Bible you want to get me. I think we are going to go buy one next week, and see how much they cost and which is best. I don't know anything about the different ones, so we're going to go next week and get a ride to the store and stuff - maybe someone will buy one and we can check out theirs. Um, so if I pick it out, you can just, maybe put the money on my card? Sounds good. We're excited for it, since the current Spanish version we have is less than perfect without all the cross references or footnotes and stuff, plus very small print.

Well, I love you all. I hope all is going well, and everyone is happy and enjoying life. I know this gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know the Spirit bears witness of its truthfulness. I am indeed amazed by the faith of all good Christian people - mom, you are right about that. We are all blessed beyond reason with light and truth. This gospel, this plan, requires faithful work from all. "For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required." -- Luke 12:48

Well, gots to go! Love you all, tah tah for now!

-Elder Christopher Juror Thelin the Old.

PS. Sweet Jeff, 5k in 18:46 is a sweet time, how many miles is that? - keep it up, just don't wear yourself down! "It is not meet that man run faster than he hath strength..."

PPS HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!

PPPS [Enroute to Uruguay...] Just then the plane shook. "What is THAT?" Holly yelled. Amy saw out the front window. "Oh, it's a Pterodactyl!" (I can't remember how to spell it, I'm not 6 anymore...) "A WHAT?" yelled the girls. "WOOF WOOF WOOF?" barked the dogs. The plane shook again. Luke tried to steer the plane straight, but it was too late. The dinosaur grabbed the plane and steered it straight DOWN... into a small Pacific Island off the coast of Costa Rica. Just before they crashed into the trees, Heidi saw three things: fences, old buildings, and some animals with REALLY long necks...
PPPS2 Took pics at Logan temple, sweet, will send package I promise...

PPPPPs Any ideas on how to teach someone how to read? One of our investigators can't read Spanish (his native language), and we're trying to teach him, but we're kinda just making it up... teaching the alphabet... we pretty much figured we don't have time to really teach him, so we're going to have faith and read the Book of Mormon out loud, and have him point to the words and say them after us. Someone said that it is easy to help teach children to read from the Book of Mormon (remember hearing some of the homeschoolers do this), and they will learn. Maybe it works on adults? Any thoughts for an easy way to teach might be useful... definitely interesting working with a grown man, pointing to letters and trying to get him to learn them. "That's "jota". "Oh, ok. S, right?" No..... "De." "S?" .... "A." "Oh, ok. S." sigh....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

WOW. I'M TWO DECADES OLD. LIKE, OLD. Now I can talk about the "good old days" when I was a teenager... haha. Never thought I'd NOT be a teenager...

THANK YOU for the package! It did indeed arrive! Saturday, even! I waited though till Monday to open it of course. We made sure to set up the banner and we sliced the pinata with a katana that the English Elders had, since I didn't have the Unique Super Pinata Buster that's 20 feet long, as the directions suggested... (the only explanation for why they even HAVE a katana is that Ogden is scary) [note from Mom: I had to look up the definition of a katana, which is--"a curved single-edged sword traditionally used by Japanese samurai" Interesting. Moms love this stuff.] and etc. etc. Heidi, I love the platypus king. HA, the Jupiter keychain is priceless [Many years ago I received a squishy globe full of gel with Jupiter in the middle and I announced that if it ever burst open, the world would end at that moment. Well, it burst and the world survived and I got a cool keychain made of Jupiter]. I laughed pretty hard when I saw that. Yeah, and the party hat, pretty cool, Jeff. Everything was excellent! And Kayla and Grandma Pat, thanks so much for your letters! They both arrived in time as well! And it wasn't a bad day for a birthday either - we did service in the morning for a lady from England named Sister Breemer, she owns a little farm in Paradise, (Paradise? In Utah?) and we pick peaches for her and stack wood and stuff, it's pretty nice, and then we went out with the English Elders to Subway, we taught some sweet lessons, we ate dinner at a park with a family who was celebrating their baby's 1st birthday (not a coincidence methinks!), we played Jenga with some kids for a Family Home Evening (Ana and Pablo Lambaren's family - they are investigators, and they speak the most awesome fluent Spanglish ever - switch back and forth almost every other word haha), and taught a guy outside who seemed really interested. It was a pretty good birthday! Of course, no cake or family here, but clearly I could hear you all singing to me from Virginia!

Haha, I DID get a new insect for my birthday - a spider with a poison sac 3x bigger than its body. Killed the mantis. Sad.

And speaking of birthdays, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERS! 8 years old, huh? Practically grown up. How's school? How's life? You have a webkinz named Chris? I'm a MONKEY??? WHAT?? I, Missy, am forever a PIG! Hope you have a great birthday, and eat lotsa cake and stuff for me! I love you tons and will give you a big squeeze after I get back. I owe you one!

I must say Dad's dream is one of the best I've heard in a while... Darrell. Uh-huh. Stop coughing everyone!

Something cool - we've been a lot slower here than in Ogden, in getting people to progress - but we had a family come to church this Sunday (Araceli and Ignacio, and their daughter Carla. Afterward we had a lesson and talked to them. We hadn't been sure if they were going to be receptive. But a man got up in sacrament meeting, after blessing his newborn baby - kinda nervous in front of so many people, but he did it. He got up to bear his testimony of Christ, and began crying in it. Araceli we brought to church said when he began crying, she felt something inside. A feeling, that made her feel like going up and bearing her testimony too! Another felt really strongly as someone bore testimony in the lesson. Later when we watched the video of the First Vision, a friend (Adriana Rubio) who had just "come over" said she felt "escalofrios" (or goosebumps) kinda all over, but not in a creepy way. I know this was the Spirit testifying. It's interesting, we have to be receptive to the Spirit. Some people aren't, as I've seen. But some are prepared to feel the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This is the most important thing - this is how our Father and our Savior will speak to us. We must listen. These people did, and felt truth touch them. They all have decided to be baptized.

It's interesting, you see a lot as a missionary. It's bugged me before why some people feel and others don't. Why some people see the Church with such different eyes. A lot of knowledge was lost when the apostles were killed in the years following Christ's ascension. Today, a lot of people sincerely are trying to follow Christ, love Him, and are wonderful people. I know that all are good, and I also know that we have His full Church restored. I know this is the truth. When I get to wondering, I remember what I've felt. I have felt a peace that goes beyond me, beyond this life. I've felt it most as I've tried to get to know my Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes in our daily lives we get a little mixed up, but I know that it is only by Him that we are saved, that we have purpose and joy and life. Only as we focus all we are on Him do we progress spiritually. It's a challenge, but I know it's possible. I have felt His power cleanse my life, change me, give me hope. I have also felt the Spirit testify with great power of the Plan of Salvation, that we lived with God before we were born, that we will have eternal families after this life, that our loved ones are in the Spirit World waiting for the Resurrection. I know by this same power that the Church is true. I don't always understand everything, but I know it is true, and trust what I've felt. I think this is part of our earthly test. To hold fast to what we've felt and received, and not waiver in the presence of opposition, even when we don't know the answers. Faith is believing in things not seen but are true. I know that as I began my mission and got set apart as a missionary, as I sat in that Stake President's office, hearing Kayla, Dad, Mom, Bishop Hoggan's testimonies, I felt the Spirit stronger than ever before. I felt a power, a love, a light just filling me. I felt clean, sure, and so close to the Savior, comissioned to go out and bring those who would listen to the fulness of His plans for us. To the Church. To His kingdom. To the authority of God, the Priesthood, to be baptized in His name and power, and be cleansed. There is no other way to come fully to Christ. We must remember that and take the Sacrament with that in mind. But that night, as I sat there, being set apart and blessed by the Stake President, I felt like I was filled with light and divine approval. Of course, with bad days and good days, that feeling has dimmed and grown, off and on, since then, but I know that was the Spirit filling me and I remember how it felt. I know this is His Church, and I am on a mission to gather those who are willing to accept it. We were prepared for this time before this life. I know what I've felt. It takes faith, study, prayer, and time - and its worth it. And when we fall, we are rescued by the Savior. Anyways, I know these things are true, and I know the Spirit bears witness of these things to those who are willing to receive it. It's true!

Well, thanks so much to all, I love you all. Excited to see the Facebook group entries from everyone that Mom mentioned! Thanks everyone for remembering a missionary out in the backhills of Utah!

Love, Elder Christopher Thelin the OLD

PS Sweet! So glad Senora Johnson remembers me... how's Jeffrey like the class?

PPS [Previously in the story: Falling into the hole, the little troupe in the BOOMPHmobile discovered the rest of the group with party hats on and squirting each other with Fiesta string. Luke Skywalker was in the center of the crowd, blindfolded, swinging away at a pinata with his lightsaber, having a birthday celebration in honor of Christopher, President of the Platypii...]As the cake was being wheeled out, Tippy took a big bite out of it. "TIPPY! What are you doing???" cried the girls. As they went to go shoo her away, the platypii saw something inside the cake - a book. a CLUE! Kinda like a giant fortune cookie cake... the platypii picked up the book: How to get to Uruguay. "Hmm, Chris is in a place that starts with U... it must be Utah!"said the platypii (they don't read very well) "Hey we know how to get to Utah!"cried the platypii."We'll get our platypus plane!" "Ok, onward!" said the girls. So they got on a plane and started heading to Uruguay...
PPPS HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFAN!!!!!

Playing Jenga with the Lambaren kids for Family Home Evening/My Birthday!

Peaches from Sister Breemer's house!

FIGURING IT OUT

Yola, everyone!

Man, I'm not so in on the whole switching to a new area thing. I was quite comfortable in Ogden and Buenaventura, albeit surrounded by crazy people... BUT that's ok, I'm figuring it out, trying to learn the streets and where I live. You know how crazy it is to go to Church twice in one day? The English Elders cover up to 30 wards at a time, and attend services from 8 to 5 on Sundays...wow, glad I'm serving Spanish. But having just 2 wards is nuts, I can't remember who goes to which and which investigators will be going to that service and.... but that's just my life.

HOLY COW I'M TURNING 2 DECADES OLD! WHAT THE HECK? WHERE DID IT GO????? (Wow, mom and dad, you guys are old...) I feel like I'm still 15 or something... ha, but ok, I'll do it. Jealous of AMY who gets to turn EIGHT! That's so fun - Amy, you get to be BAPTIZED! That's really important! Keep me updated on it, and take pictures! I'm sad I'll miss it, but it'll be ok. You appreciate what that means better as a missionary - its one of the most important things we will do in our lives. And one of the happiest.

ALSO happy birthday to Joey, one year older and wiser too (and only 2 hours away, weird...) as well as Stefan, who I shall beat by one day, try it out first and see if I like it... sounds like he's getting his kicks, burning ties and slaughtering sheep and such...

That's one thing about Hyrum - the whole thing smells like manure, cows, and sometimes blood - the main industry is "Miller's", which is a slaughterhosue, and where 90% of our members work all day. Depressing, and smelly. Whee. Not as smelly as the horses though- HOLLY, HOW CAN YOU STAND IT??? There is a fence right next to our house, and the horses walk up to it to stand in the shade, and, well, "let their wind go free" you might say... it makes life kinda stink sometimes, ugh...

ANYWAYZ, man, big week, we'll see what I can tell about it... um, OH I FORGOT, last week we got to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication! I completely forgot to talk about that, I'm not sure how... it was great! That is a beautiful temple on the inside, we saw pictures and video clips beforehand. Can't wait to go there someday... All church services in Utah were cancelled so all could attend via satellite in their buildings. Kinda significant. Very powerful. The temple is holy, a place of purity in a world that isn't so pure... President Monson is a prophet of God, and ha, President Monson is also hilarious. He was telling stories - apparently Air Force One landed in Salt Lake and he and President Dieter Uchtdorf got to tour it. President Uchtdorf [a former pilot] sat down in the pilot seat and was talking about how he used to fly these types of planes. "I saw the look in his eye as he touched the controls" said Pres. Monson, "Dieter, DON'T DO IT." He obeyed, and that's why he's allowed to attend here today..." Funny man.

Hm, oh yeah, we also had a zone conference with our mission president, his wife, and Elder Porter of the Quorum of the Seventy. Very good, talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes people get wrapped up in programs and details and stuff. Home teaching, youth programs, tithing... its all very important and necessary, but we are not saved by obedience alone - Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. Faith, repentance, baptism (and that covenant), listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end is the only way to Him. It is the plan for overcoming sin. It's not something we just do once in our lives and then "move on to higher things" - there are no higher things than coming to Christ. We do it over and over, day by day, by how we live our lives. This is His plan. cool...

Hm,, oh yeah, on the way over to our second church service, we get a call - the Branch Mission Leader was calling. Just to let us know ahead of time that we are speaking in sacrament meeting. So we can prepare...haha. It worked out, I've never spoken in Spanish to a large group of people, but it was good. I talked about Grandma and Grandpa's conversion, and how its blessed their lives, their children, 2 more generations, and 1000's that their grandchildren have shared the gospel with. I believe I am the fourth missionary in their grandchildren... and it's growing. Schweet. Went well, only that no one can say my name here, since I've dropped Telin (had to, not a good word, though Buenaventura branch will def remember that whole episode, haha...) Thank you again Grandma and Grandpa for having the courage to accept the restored gospel - that decision has and will change the lives of countless people.

I got your package! Thank you! Thank you all who have posted comments and such, I enjoyed that (haha, I saw part of my Facebook on my mission - printed out...) And Mom, thanks for the letter, that was cool. That talk sounded really good. And I remember writing that journal entry, I think thats profound. Thanks. And all the candy and such is sweet, thanks! I STILL haven't sent my pictures, not sure why not, but haven't done it still! Sorry, maybe I'll wait till I need to send the other Livescribe back? We'll see...

Nice job Jeff on the Cross Country - keep it up, don't hurt yourself with all the work - chill a little too...

We'll be praying for the Hester family, that's sad. Same thing happened a week ago here to a 19 year old about to go on his mission. Texting while driving. DON'T use cell phones while driving, its so dangerous...

SELLING MY LAPTOP??? Grrr, ok.... ha, fine. JUST MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS OFF OF IT! When i send pics of my mission, save them in like 5 places, I don't want to lose them... good luck Jacob!

Wow, baptisms in Culpeper? Sweet! Are you going to them? Are you greeting new people at church when you see them? Are you helping the missionaries? Ha, these are things that all missionaries would love - not for us, but for the people we are teaching. You don't know how much it makes a difference to shake someone's hand and say "nice to see you here today, WELCOME." or to go to their house and speak with the missionaries. Sure sometimes the members are crazy and say funny things, but its good. The person who is trying to learn about the gospel is impacted by it. It's not good when people go and then tell us no one noticed them. Yeah, but I think you all are doing fine on that ;)

Really? Gma and Gpa and your fam were sealed [families are joined together for eternity--see Matthew 16:19] in the Logan temple? Somehow I thought it was the St. George temple! Ok, sweet! I love this temple, it's so old and like a castle. It's up on a giant hill, shining all the time. I think someone talked about it in General Conference, talking about a kid saying you're never lost when you can see the temple. This is the one... But sweet! I'll make sure to take pictures. Historic!

Well, that's what I've got today- we're now going to go play soccer (joy. :) Elder Muro is pretty cool, its cool to meet someone who just accepted the gospel 2 years ago, a different perspective. A little more reserved, but still funny.

OH we caught a praying manits, then another one. We thought they'd be friendly or something... but in the first 20 seconds the new green one fell on its back, and before it could get up, the other pounced, grasping it by the neck and throat and began to dig its mouth into its back, eating it ALIVE! It was CRAZY! It made a hole in its back, eating it alive, then ate its entire head, and is finishing the body now. Crazy.

Well, we've got to go - I know this gospel is true. Christ is our Savior. I know this. I know He knows me. I know this is a reality, and He is our friend. He laughs when we laugh, cries when we cry, and cheers when we choose right, faith, and overcome our problems. The commandments are indeed our lifeline, the way to joy and freedom. The Spirit can guide us. Brigham Young said "We all live beneath our privileges." Think of all we've been promised. We can be powerful, work miracles, know the Lord - IF we have faith, and live worthily of the greater blessings. I know if we do it, we can see the power of the Lord poured upon us. I'm learning that, but I know its true.

I love you all, thank you for all you've done! I'm so thankful for all you've done for me, taught me, given me - I'm honored to be part of this family, and hope you are doing well in all you do!
Love,
Elder Christopher Thelin

PS: Hey, people that got new addresses for school this year (Hello Kayla... can't write yet...) send me them! I'm going to do better about writing to everyone I promise!

PPS: They drove through the desert and suddenly Jeff woke up yelling. "GAHHHHHHHHH BOLOGNA SWORDFISH GOOFMISHGORGIN!!!" Ok, not quite awake. But it made the car swerve... into a giant hole...
PPPS: Keep that plaque shiny ;)

If you look at the green one's back, you can see the hole being munched into it...

The extra-stinky horses by our apartment with Elder Muro

You can see the Logan Temple from anywhere in the valley!

ENTOMOLOGY IN A MISSIONARY APARTMENT

MOM, what did you do to the Boompf?? Haha, THAT will make it just that much more ghetto... sweet. Hopefully this isn't an omen for the school year or anything...haha
[Background info: I emailed him a picture of his car that I accidentally ran into this morning as I was backing out of our driveway...um, sort of ripped off the rear bumper...oops.]
WELL, I'm not in Ogden anymore - quite different here. I don't know if you have checked out any pictures online of where I've been, but its actually quite beautiful here in South Cache valley. Different kind of place. I'd kinda gotten used to sirens and loud music and riding bikes through the streets and alleys and such... but now I'm further north, on the other side of the mountains. It's kinda like comparing Salt Lake City to DC, Ogden to Manassas, and Hyrum/Logan to Culpeper/Warrenton. I kinda feel more at home, there are tractors and cows and it smells like manure everywhere and we have to drive places - a nice country feel instead of dirty city. AND I HAVE A CAR!!! AND I GET TO DRIVE IT!!! THAT is quite satisfying. I missed driving. And there is no problems with the records, I'm fine driving. My companion Elder Muro lost his apparently and HE has to let me drive for a while, so it's good.

Elder Muro is pretty cool - he was born in Mexico, but moved to California when he was 5 and lost his Spanish. He joined the Church 2 years ago, alone, and decided to go on a mission. His mother was baptized a few months after he left, which is cool. He's kinda reserved, but a fun guy. I'm not sure I've described my previous companions very well, but they were pretty much absolutely psycho and full of energy and etc. Fun guys, but crazy. I think this transfer I might have to become a little more crazy - the longer a missionary is here, the crazier they get. It's like they leave the worldliness behind and have to fill the void with something...

I'm now in charge of TWO branches [small congregations]- Valle Hermoso (Handsome Valley?) and South Cache. We work in Hyrum and Logan, which is a beautiful small town - check out pics of the Logan temple and the town, it's fairly scenic. You can see the temple from anywhere in the valley, its on a big hill over Utah State University. I miss the people in Buenaventura - it was nice having everyone know and love me, because I'd been there forever, but I'm making an effort to know everyone here now.

The package - well, I STILL haven't sent mine because I heard there was a Post Office close to where we live HERE so I waited - sending THIS week... as for yours, do send it to the mission office. It just takes a little longer. And where I live is a set of apartments on the edge of Hyrum, and many don't even lock their doors here. We live below some English Elders, so that's fun. They're always down with us, interrupting studies and planning. OH MAN, I hate spiders. And bugs. We're not allowed to have pets, but we figure that since there are animals that want to live with us, we can contain them - we have 4-5 containers with an array of grasshoppers, 5-6 spiders (BIG, with names), a frog, 2 snakes, a praying mantis, and many earwigs (which DO crawl in ears). We keep the beds far from the walls and never let blankets touch the ground. And wear shoes... intense...

Sounds like the first few days of school are going as usual, with everything crazy. Glad everyone has some good classes, and I'm sure Heidi will get some good ones figured out. Algebra isn't too bad. Don't worry. And can Jeffrey drive to seminary? Or still no?

Well Mom, at least I'm taking the spiders for you... and REALLY glad I don't have a fro or a mohawk OR a powder blue bow tie like in your dream, haha (though I DO need a haircut...). But I think I've seen that duck-taped car in Ogden....dreams are awesome.

Congrats to all who survived day one of school! As well to Grandma and Grandpa - happy anniversary! I hope Grandma feels better! And that's really cool about Reagan and Dillon!

Thanks for everything, EVERYONE! We're praying for everyone always, and I really appreciate everyone thinking of me and writing and all. It's a huge help. I love you all, and hope all continues to go well. I know what I'm teaching is true, and this is what people need. I've felt the Spirit testify to me that it is God's work, and know this is the way to happiness here and after. We are all His children, and He is guiding us if we let Him.

Love you all!
-Elder Christopher Thelin and the Cows

PS Weird, we're teaching a 22 year old man who was living in Manassas!

And now for the continuing silly story of 3 little girls on a quest to find their brother Chris... presently finding themselves in China with a herd of platypii, Luke Skywalker, KungFu Panda, and others who were just lost in a whirlwind following a frightning attack by a firebreathing dragon. Here's what we added last week:
The girls began searching high and low for signs of their friends. There was stuff everywhere from the storm. “Hey, here is a piece of Luke’s pool noodle sword!” said Amy. “And one of the platypus' lunchboxes!” said Holly. “What in the world…” said Heidi. The three sisters stared at a bumper…from a car…the license plate said, “BOOMPF”. “This storm must have been bigger than we thought,” the girls said…

Here's what Chris added:

PPS ...a little ways away there was a car smashed into some bamboo that looked really familiar. "the BOOMPFMOBILE!" the girls shouted. "Look! There's someone inside!" cried Holly. The front door creaked open and... "Jeffrey!" cried the girls. Jeffrey, their older brother, fell out of the front seat and groaned. He was unconscious. "That's pretty crazy." said Amy. Heidi and the girls and Kung Fu Panda lifted Jeffrey up and put him in the back seat. Then Kung Fu Panda started driving the Boompfmobile through the jungle (without a bumper). "We'll go this way" said KungFu Panda, pointing to a little road that went up to a pretty Chinese looking mountain. "Ok...." said Heidi...

[One more thing...here is mom's dream that Chris refers to in his letter...thought Kayla would get a kick out of it, haha! So, from our family letter to him:
...I couldn’t sleep, and when I did, I had the strangest dreams, so I finally gave up on sleep around 4 am. My favorite dream was that we were somehow driving through the streets of Ogden in our family van, and we spotted you in a turn lane. You were in some completely decrepit vehicle that looked spray painted (not unlike the paint job on the ThelinGroovy, mind you) and held together with an unprecedented amount of duck tape. You were driving with Kayla, which was somewhat confusing, why she was there. More disturbing, however, was that you both had mohawks. You still had all of your other hair (yours was like when you had the giant fro going on), but you both had parted it in such a way that it was plastered down kinda on either side of the mohawk. Additionally, you were wearing your white shirt, missionary tag, AND a beautiful powder blue bowtie. In short, you looked absolutely ridiculous. Nevertheless, we were ecstatic to see you and waved like crazy as we drove past. You saw us too and smiled at us, and I was so pleased to notice as we went by that the little gap between your front teeth had closed! You must be wearing your retainer! Anyway, I woke up actually laughing out loud. After that, however, I fell back to sleep and dreamed that there were hamsters in my bed crawling in my pajamas and such, and so I just got up after that. Couldn’t deal with any more.]

The famous Logan Tabernacle, on the corner of Main and Center Streets

Me, one of my first Zone Leaders Elder Perez, and my new companion, Elder Muro

Logan Temple is SWEET

Our little friends...

TRANSFERRED!

HEEEEEEEEEYLO!

HOLY COW, crazy week this week! So much has been happening! I guess its just Ogden/Buenaventura branch's way of wishing me goodbye, because tomorrow I will be traveling to the country fields of HYRUM, UTAH - which covers from Brigham City to Logan, Utah - I GET A CAR!! WHOOO!! And I'm serving with Elder Muro, we'll see how he is, I only met him once for a few minutes. But then again, that's how Elder Minson was, and we had a blast together. Kinda sad I am leaving him and this branch, but I'm also kinda ready to leave. I've been here for FOUR MONTHS! Crazy. I didn't burn a tie or anything in honor of my 6 months out, sorry, but we were kinda busy doing a 1000 things... such as:

Wednesday morning we were going to Chantal and Carlos's house to see if they'd bought the marriage license finally - Carlos had been asking to be paid (he's built 2 houses and not been paid yet), but they still hadn't been able to do it yet. We rode up on the bikes... and the house was deserted. NOTHING inside. The night before everything was there, but by wed morning, NOTHING. We are teaching some family of theirs, and they are panicked - they can't find them, haven't heard a thing. The only thought they have is immigration caught up with them. The Migra. It's so scary, people just disappear in seconds. Its so crazy. We'll never see Carlos, Chantal, and their son Andrew again. Deported most likely. They're in jail probably right now. It's insane, they were so nice, changing their hearts... we suspect Carlos' boss didn't have funds to pay him, so instead he called immigration and got them all deported after using them. Sad. Not uncommon. But sad. I know people come here illegally, but once you talk to them, you understand more why they did it. It's still wrong, but its better than what they were going through. But yeah...

On a positive note... we were talking with our zone leaders, trying to figure out how to overhaul this branch some, and we decided the lifeblood of a branch or ward is the youth - and the youth prgram here is a little sickly.... SO Elder Minson had a sweet idea: when he was in high school, his friends would meet up at someone's house every sunday and watch church movies or something, play games, and bake cookies: Cookie Night. We decided we wanted something to do on the weekends too, so we started our first Noche de Galletas here. We invited all the youth to come over to a member's home, and, without all the leaders and church dress and all we watched the Restoration with them, talked about it, baked and ate cookies, and played a sweet game involving smashing your face into a mountain of flour and digging a penny out with your nose (I won). It was awesome, and instead of the 4 people we were expecting, FIFTEEN showed up - AND 2 nonmember friends. We're doing it every Sunday here now... well, SOMEONE will be doing it every Sunday... but way fun. I think the youth will change beacause of it - less active youth decided to come, just to see what it was. Next week we're involving pinatas (we learned how to make them at a members house, sweet!)

BTW, Mexican seafood is usually not safe. A family went all out and made us a dish with bits of fish, clams, crab and octopus in it... they probably skipped a few meals to afford it, and the husband is in pain when he works... felt bad, because it made me way sick all weekend and I like had a fever and etc. Got better, but yeah... Mexican seafood...

Man, Dad and Jeff, stop having problems, sheesh! Back pains? Teeth? Ears? Crazy... Jeff, you're going to have Senora Johnson?? Good luck. Make it fun, and don't go crazy - she's from Nicaragua, and nuts. Tell her I finally went on my mission, and I know Spanish now - I'll try to think of some fun stuff to tell you to say to her. Stealing the sombrero in her class is a must... and good job escaping Glass Castle, that book was awful. All about drunk fathers and abuse and junx like that...you'll be better off in Honors.

Actually, when I read that book I rejected it because I didn't want to believe the world was that messed up. But I'm understanding that more, this week. We've had a lot of experiences, finding out about people being abused by husbands, husbands being terrible because they're drunk... I've never been around drunk people before, but they're psycho. Last night we were teaching a lady and her drunk boyfriend walked in, thought our member friend who came with us (a 50 year old man from Mexico, super nice) was some bad guy he knew from 5 years ago, and he tried to punch him in the face - broke his glasses - it was pretty bad, we managed to get him off ok (our friend was totally cool with it, understood) and we were going to leave but then the dude was going to attack his girlfriend (our investigator), so we stayed and distracted him for an hour because he liked us, thought we were hermanos en Dios and hugged us a lot, made us hold his hand to prove we were men of God, etc... drunk people are crazy.

The situation turned out all right, and everyone made it to their respective locations ok, but it opened my eyes. I became thankful for things like the Word of Wisdom [our code of healthy living--like abstaining from alcoholic beverages, smoking drugs, coffee, tea, or other addictive substances, that kind of stuff], the guidance to live a clean life, being privileged to be born into the Church of Jesus Christ, for good parents that are righteous, for a good safe home... I feel like I've lived in a dream life, and I'm opening my eyes to how the rest of the world lives. Satan indeed has many chained down by addiction, ruining lives. It helped me see more that I'm not just bringing people a better doctrinal understanding, but teaching them HOW to live, bringing them to Christ and His way of life. I always figured that was such a given, but people really don't know how to live the commandments and be happy. Their lives are a living hell. Think of how FEW of His children do what's right, - - how much is He counting on US to bring the rest to Him? We really are the hope of Israel, we need to bring others to Christ and the truth. There's so few of us, NONE of us can afford to be less than our best effort. Eye opening experience, at least... oh, we got a cool quote from the Zone Leaders yesterday - called "The Fellowship of the Unashamed" - Elder Henry B Eyring read it once, might not be originally by him, but its a sweet quote. A declaration of being a disciple of Christ and not looking back or giving in for anything. The decision is made, the dye has been cast. Cool. Reflected kinda how I've been trying to feel this week - become dedicated to this cause completely.

So yeah, asi es (that's how it is). Sounds like everthing is going good over there in Virginia, and school is ready for the kids even if they're not ready for it (I was starting BYU a year ago!!!) Oh! I got the shirt Heidi! SCHWEET!! I love it! Thanks! Congrats to Jacob Magura and also Rhianna... I thinks I gotta go, packing will be fun... I have so much stuff... but yeah, I love you all, the gospel is true. Thank you mom and dad for all you do, and for not drinking and such - hope all is well with everything, and we'll talk next week from HYRUM.

Love, Elder Chris the Thelin

PS: Birthday? um, the only thing I could think of is a USB drive for pictures? ... and maybe some cd's (can't have burned ones, have to be churchy and I'm going to be driving a lot - 30 minutes between apts)... probably could send my EFY cds in my room? Would be perfect! I don't really need or want much though, so, yeah! Whatever! I don't need anything for my birthday, really!

PPS ...the wall fell down. A giant whirlwind was blowing across Mongolia and started thrashing the little group. In the confusion, they couldn't see much. "Where are you??" cried Heidi. "Hold on to something!" cried Holly. "AHHHH" cried Amy. When it cleared... the trees were gone... and so were Luke, the platypi, and Tippy and Tanny. Gone. "What're we gonna do?" said Amy. "The Platypi are the only ones that know Chris" said Heidi. "Well, lets go search for them! I want Tanny and Tippy!" said Holly. So, they crossed the wall... and went to go search...
PPPS. ..HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GRANDMA AND GRANDPA !!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x59

The game we played at Cookie Night with the youth

Elder Minson and I digging for the penny...

Back row: Elder Romney, Elder Tetelpa, Elder Marriot, Elder Leavitt, Elder Moberly

Middle row: Elder Meza, Elder Downs, Hermana Lopez, Hermana Shuttleworth, Myself

Front row: Elder Minson, Elder Limon

The tons of stuff I was bringing with me to Hyrum...

SIX MONTHS OUT AND PLAYING BATMAN

6 MONTHS. 6 MONTHS - DONE. WHAT THE HECK. HOLY COW. Ha, I don't think I'll be celebrating like Stefan did, that might have been a little, um, illegal? We'll do something though... but yeah! I'm out here, and feel old! Never mind I'm the youngest (mission-wise) in my district, but I feel old! Glad it's helping Holly learn fractions, with a quarter of my mission gone, at least!

Sad though, this may mean that I'm leaving Buenaventura next week - the way the mission dynamics are shaping out, I'll probably be out of here next week. Bittersweet - Ogden is the armpit of Utah, but I know all the members here, and they kinda feel like family - they all know me now and I've got inside jokes with some members ("Oh, esta llevando a Tilincito a la primaria? Tilin, dibujaste algo hoy? Lo vas a poner en el refrigador?" "Oh, are you taking little Elder Thelin to the primary? Did you draw a picture today? Is it going on the refrigerator?" Hermano Uscanga thinks I'm going into 6th grade. I still can't figure out any comebacks in Spanish...)

Sounds like Michigan was a memorable experience! Sigh, jealous, but WHATEVER, I'm ENJOYING the scorching heat and riding my bike up hills and such...Gotta get the girls water skiing by 2011, so we can go back there and do it again... The ThelinGroovy sounds like a pretty sweet boat too - we'll see how much its evolved by then... we'll get this whole family on the water by the end of this... (let's move to Michigan!) (although Utah has lakes in the moutains MADE specifially for water skiing...)

Hey Jeff, I got stung by a bee too, so yeah, cosmic brotherly bee sting or something - not even fair, Elder Minson trapped a bee and a spider and shook them up in a salsa jar for 2 days, they died (bee killed spider, sweet) and then I am the one that got nailed by a bee in revenge. Grrr... good luck with the ear... that sucketh.

Nice on finding the keys in the popcorn,Mom, that's typical.

CD with BYU pics? keep it. I could watch it - we have access to computers and such (a flash drive if we have an extra might be nice, can back up my pics before mailing them... but not necessary by far, only if we have an extra) I'm not sure I need the copy of the drving record and um, sure, I'll take the extra black journal, I might use it. I don't need more white shirts (though I've ripped a few holes and stained some pockets with pens...) Mine are much whiter than the others' still. The only problem with collars is I have a collar tan and a watch tan. So cool.

I'll be sending my package today hopefully.. be ready, not too much inside, but its cool...

Man, this week's FLOWN past - I was JUST emailing everyone, WEIRD. I'm trying to think what happened in this little time...

...last Tuesday we hiked Waterfall Canyon again, cool hike, saw the valley from above, relaxed with the zone, took naps under the waterfall...

...um, have decided that trying to teach the principle of the Law of Chastity with children present is awkward - we're teaching a 70 year old lady, totally awesome, and she makes like 10 kids in her neighborhood sit and listen to us (they even came to Primary!) and she tried to explain the law of chastity to them. It was pretty awkwardly hilarious.... (used the word pompis, which caused fits of laughter...)

...um, my gift with little kids...I made a cross-eyed face at a 2 year and he burst into tears uncontrollably, and basically delayed a lesson for 10 minutes...

...we gave Sinesio a Preach My Gospel manual and he read it until midnight one night... he's also read 3 quarters of the Book of Mormon! Crazy, he has few friends, so he loves it when we stop by and listen about his pueblo in Mexico, his service in the army, his raising horses, his son who is a scientist in California, etc etc... he calls us sometimes to chat...

...Chantal and Carlos had their baptismal interviews!! annnnd failed to buy their license again, so baptism POSTPONED AGAIN !! Grr, I want to see it! [clarification: they need to get married rather than just live together before they get baptized--forsaking sin and all that, you know].

Taught another lady, Lupe, up on Madison Ave around 23rd, but when she went to church she didn't go in beacuse she saw people wearing nicer things! Gah! Frustrating, she walked back home! The Lord is giving us golden people all over, its cool. Some people are very prepared - ha, like Lupe: she said she met missionaries 2 years ago, and they gave her a book, and said they'd come over at a certain time, but they never did! 2 years later, we're here, and she's excited because she has tried to find God, and read the book, but she doesn't understand it. We asked her to bring it out so we could read some of it with her... and it was a Jehovah Witness bible! Kinda funny, so we gave her a Book of Mormon in addition, and are using both to prepare her for baptism - so, like, the Lord used the Jehovah Witnesses 2 years ago to help prepare her for us...!

I think that's all we've got for this week. Just crazy, like usual. But I feel good about it. Ha, I agree mom, I'm never living or raising kids here, Utah's weird, but its also interesting. I think the Anti-Mormons just come here for kicks. They're ridiculous sometimes -cant help but laugh at their insults, they never make sense. I like what you said mom, everyone has some good in them, even if it doesn't show all the time. We feel like Batman (forgive me if I've said this before) - some people want to just burn Ogden and start over, but we've gotta be Batman and fight to help - "There are good people here, Ogden's not past saving." Of course, the Lord's planning on burning the earth in the end... but the analogy breaks down at that point...

Anyhow, sorry, random letter, but yeah, it sounds like the family is doing really well, everyone's playing board games (keep it going Heidi) and everyone's having fun! Just need to lance Jeff's ear and get dad off pain killers, hah...

I know this gospel is true! Christ is the Savior, and I know His cleansing power. I know that through baptism we can be made clean . I'm excited to serve here, to grow and help people learn what the Spirit is, that Heavenly Father is here for us, and can speak to our hearts and change them. People praying for the first time can be powerful - there's a lot we take for granted in our lives. But I know we can all come unto Him, and learn who we really are. You're right mom, I might have had a best friend before this life that I promised to find. It's all pretty mind blowing, but its also true. I know its true, and we're preparing for the coming of the Savior. We need to do our best to prepare with all we have, dedicate ourselves to being our best. It's a crazy world, but its still a beautiful place, and only a shadow of the life that we're preparing for.

Love,
Elder Thelin! (who is trying not to look like a government "secret agent" worker, sheesh, people mess with me here. Sinesio still thinks I look like I'm going to be a government agent or something, guess I shouldn't be so serious... I'm just not sure how to translate my weird humor into spanish still...no comebacks to defend myself!)

PS The dragon had smoke swirling out its nostrils. The baby panda began to whimper. Luke tried to take out his pool noodle sword, but the dragon ate it in half. "Hello, nice dragon.." Holly began to say, but the dragon lunged and they all began to run. The 3 girls, Luke, the baby panda, and some koalas jumped on the backs of the platypii and they charged through the jungle - the dragon close behind. RUNNNNNN!!!! screamed Heidi. Fire was flying past, scorching bamboo huts, and they were getting away until they hit a WALL. "Uh oh"... said Amy...

PPS ok fam, I think were gonna cut this off till next week, PEACE OUT, get ready for school, hahaha! IM DONE WITH THAT, BWAHAHA!!! Love you all, bye!

Odgen from Waterfall Canyon, a block up from the tall building was the apartments that burned down...

Elder Minson y yo

Stefan's 6 Months...

BMW IN THE GHETTO

[Mom Note: Sorry this is late--we were on vacation last week so I didn't get it posted. New letter tomorrow, too! Bonus!]

Dear the FAM,

How's everyone doing?? LAKE MICHIGAN???? WHAT IS THIS??? Holy cow, going to a lake sounds like heaven... I have concluded that Stefan was always right and Virginia IS paradise - the desert is a little... HOT. Sheesh. So yeah, man, sounds like you are all having a blast! Keep it up! Sorry about Flat Chris, he's coming, I just haven't been able to finish the letters for the envelope yet... I'm also going to try to send a package with pics and some stuffs to come home. We'll see when I get that out... say hi to everyone there for me! I'm having a desire to play Camelot with pool noodle swords and watch Dad make a rudder, and get "toilet-flushed" (that water park sounded awesome), but yeah, I'll live it vicariously... heh.

Man, there WERE more fires! A 2nd one happened on Thursday - we thought it was Sinesio's!! It was the house next door... man, scary. Its becoming a problem here - make sure you have a fire extinguisher everyone, its rough. I wish I could have seen the news footage - we walked past the reporters, but the helicopters were everywhere...

Ethan's going to OKLAHOMA? SWEET! Ben Kay, Steven Alexander, Josh Reitz... wonder where they're going, good old days at BYU. Isn't that CRAZY? I started BYU a YEAR ago! Time is so weird. and I can't belive almost 6 months are up. What in the WORLD was Stefan doing in that picture??? We're not even allowed to OWN matches! Tradition is to burn something -a tie at 6 months, a suit later on, but man... hilarious...

The work is going here - ups and downs, finding and losing people - nothing too significant has happened this week. Our big problem right now is hard headed husbands that hate us. Not sure how to get around that, but we'll do it. Have to call up the special op's missionaries for that... man, we got a ton of people to church, but it was CRAZY - we had to take a guy's BMW down to a super ghetto street (signs everywhere, "BEWARE, DANGEROUS DOGS") and picked up a guy at a shack, then as our investigators were showing up at church ( an hour late) a kid fell and her head was bleeding everywhere - it was kinda funny watching them bandage her up like a mummy, though I'm pretty sure nobody was gonna take her to a doctor (no insurance)- then ANOTHER investigator's kid got a fever and they had to leave.... we did lure two new teenagers into the youth class with some of the young women... insanity... BUT we managed to get through it alive. So yeah. Nothing too exciting this week, but Elder Minson is a fun guy, and we're having fun with the area. Always thinking about you guys, and wish I could see people I knew every once and a while (Elder Minson's parents live in the mission and dropped off brownies to a member's house... the message got lost in translation though and they thought the Minson's were giving it all to them... oh well, hah) But yeah, I know the Church is true. We really do have a Father in Heaven. Christ is our Savior, and the Spirit is here to guide us-- to guide us through. I know that we have a prophet on the earth - how cool is that? SO many people have no clue. This mission shows you the best and worst of humanity, that really Satan has great hold over this earth at this time. He is running rampant. But every once in a while you meet people who know why they're here, and are focused on the eternal - and it gives some hope. We can overcome this world by faith. We can succeed in our test here on earth, and help others to realize what they knew before they even came to this earth. I know its true!

Well, we gots to go!
Love, Elder Thelin!

PPS To continue the epic tale: Then in the height of the battle... the koalas headed towards the tree the girls were in. The kanagaroos were hopping up the branches, and the pool noodle swords were shredding everywhere. They were all filling the top branches. Just as a little black koala was about to help Holly out the window, there were too many animals in the tree, and the tree bent over... and SPROING, the tree house went FLYING through the air TO....