DOUBLE SWEET--TWO LETTERS IN ONE BLOG!

Yalo, sup? Wow, sounds like you all should be dead tired. Michigan, YC, family, everything, thats quite a bit! Intense! You guys need to take a vacation now! Ha. I've been thinking a 3 day vacation to the location of my choice would be merited, I NEED to swim!! But alas, I shall continue on. Yup. You've GOT to let me come up to Michigan after the mission. Please.

We had quite a week here - where to start? Pretty sure my comp has proposed to the girl in Venezuela by now, sweet. Um, trying to un-trunky him. I'm staying here (its transfers technically, but I've changed companions once every 2 weeks for the past 2 months anyhow). I'm a district leader again over like 11 elders and sisters, and I'm training another new guy, this time he's going to stay in our mission and not go to Mexico. We'll see who it is tomorrow. This area is booming, its so cool! A family we've worked with for quite a long time, and who other Elders have known for like a year, have decided to get baptized. It took an ugly separation (this is the family with the cockroaches) - but the mom moved back with the kids, and they fixed it up. So cool, she used to teach Catechism (sp?) in the Catholic church, so she knows her stuff and her scriptures - and shes so firm in the gospel. They'll get baptized in 2 weeks. Amazing - they are struggling in a lot of material ways, but the Lord provides little tender mercies for them, and we've gotten to be really good friends with them. So cool!

ALSO the COOLEST news ever I got on Sunday - 1st you probably dont recall, but when I was in Hyrum we worked with a man named Moises (Moses) and he felt unworthy to even pray to God, haunted by past sins, etc. We were really close. Anyways, a week ago he finally decided to be baptized, and invited me down to confirm him! He actually remembered me. It was so sweet, after our like 9 hours of church meetings that day, we went down to Hyrum- most of the branch actually remembered me too, first time I'd been back! The baptism was super spiritual - Moises was the one that had an english neighbor and they talked about the gospel for hours using two spanish-english dictionaries - she told his whole conversion story, and the Spirit was there. Then all the 8 missionaries that had been invited sang as an octet. When I laid my hands on his head, and told him "receive the Holy Ghost", I felt the Spirit settle in, and the words came. I saw him wipe a tear away after. So sweet, I had prayed to not go home before seeing that baptism. So sweet.

AND THEN, Elder Baquedano was there from down in Ogden, and he told me the coolest news ever - that guy Jorge from Layton, the one that came to pick me up from Logan, he proposed to Karla Sandoval, the girl that had all that opposition from her family! She accepted! Though said that they should probably date a little first haha.... That is the single COOLEST thing ever, if they get married! Jorge had told me before that he had thought about marrying her and taking her to the temple - maybe next June, so I may be coming back here next summer, who knows! Amazing. Great weekend.

Hmm, only other news is that in this zone, our zone leaders did a fantastic job, helping us have faith and give our all to invite the Lord's miracles to the work - we set a baptismal goal of 30 for this month, which is higher than the record in this area. Well, there were a total of 14 baptisms this weekend alone, and we're at 28 already this month! SWEET!

Glad that YC was an adventure, Mom, pole vaulting sounds cool. Those stories from the testimony meeting sound amazing. Like I told Jeffrey, YC can be lame at times, but it can strengthen us too. Give and take.

That's sweet about Maddie's marriage. So glad it worked out! The Lord definitely was in it. Obviously He is, but especially so in this instance.

Amy, funny, my companion has been singing the Jungle Book song lately too. I'm going to try the paper rolling idea. That's genius Amy, can you be my psychiatrist?

[clarification here: Chris is responding to the following story I wrote him...Amy, while we were at Michigan came to me and said, “Mom I am having this terrible problem. I cannot get the Jungle Book song out of my head (Steven and Jeffrey had been singing the Gonna Walk Like You Talk Like You song). I have gone through a whole stack of paper and it is STILL there!” I asked “what are you talking about…what paper?” “Well, it’s like this. When I try to go to sleep at night, my brain is going like crazy. So I pretend I take a sheet of blank paper, white, and put it in a slot in my head. Then I roll it in. Then I concentrate on the blank part and I fall right to sleep!” I was amazed. She went on to explain, “So I tried doing that with the song, and I’ve gone through a whole entire stack of blank paper and it is doing no good at all.”]

Love you all family, be good, be strong and know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us, and that this is truth. Don't waiver.
Elder Thelin!

P.S. Jeffrey, keep up the positive attitude! Also get the motorcycles ready! Ha.


FROM JULY 12, 2010 (We were in Michigan and had a little trouble with the email. Chris got our letter a few minutes after he wrote this!)

Hey family - dont know if email was hungry and ate the emails this week or there was a lot of intense Thelin activity in VA, and things were a little hectic - so if there was a email sent and I'm not responding to it, next week I'll write to it. BUT anywhow, here is my week!

YESTERDAY: knocked on the Logan Islamic Center and got a free Quran - I've always respected the Muslims a lot, but you know, after reading a few passages - says Jesus Christ wasnt crucified, wasnt divine, and apparently taught Muslim theology, so as Christians we apparently just have apostate records and traditions - its a beautiful book and all, and is very true and correct, just some minor problems like that, haha... but sweet that they gave us a free one! Hey, it was worth a try.

Michael got BAPTIZED. It was great, he invited his non member dad and brother to the baptism. We did it in the Logan Tabernacle, beautiful font, and a lot of people came. The two college students that called us and asked us to teach them in their dorm room my first day in this area gave the talks, and the Spirit was there. Very cool. His dad said that he would like his son to baptize him in a few weeks! GOOD STUFF.

Haha, my companion is a little funny, he has 2 weeks left in his mission. Pretty trunky. He started writing a girl in Venezuela, who was a cousin of a member here. Well, he's convinced he's marrying her. Writing songs, he's called and just about organized the plane trip to Venezuela, he has the "proposal poem" written... its awesome, very fun to watch happen, being trunky is pretty entertaining... hahaha, I promise that I won't start writing a girl in South America before I come home...

Hmm, also.... we gave talks Sunday, this branch we're in is kinda gossipy, and its sad how many people go inactive because of it. We kinda rebuked the ward - with love! - but had 30 minutes at the pulpit, talking about how we've seen people's excitement in the gospel diminished by the actions of others, and how to have a functional ward family. Talked about how before this life we were all brothers and sisters, and how now, even though we dont remember, we need to acknowledge that, and treat all that way. Its like iniviting brothers and sisters who've been away for a while to a family reunion, but if the family doesnt really care that you're back, then its not worth going to them. We need to watch our thoughts, words, and actions concerning those we know, and make sure we really are inviting them to feel the savior's love. The Spirit was there as we spoke, so I think we did a good job. My companion did a little more of the reproving, and I softened it by the way to fix it... intense!

Then there was a man who spoke almost no Spanish was present and he asked someone to translate - he shared how in college he was an active member, went to all meetings and everything -appeared fine. But inside, his testimony was being destroyed. He broke into tears as he expressed gratitude for a persistent and loving home teacher and friend there who always stopped in, and shared his testimony and everything. "He saved me. He saved me from leaving the Savior." The Spirit was super strong. Being a home teacher isn't just a job, its a sacred care. Cooooool.

Well, I guess thats all I got. I know more than ever that this is all true. I love you all much, and hope all are well!
Love (elder) Chris tHelin

ps if people could tell me where they live now, itd be cool, namely Jamie,Kayla and Kimmy Nicholson, i can try to end the mail silence, I just dont know if they've moved or not, and kayla's gets forwarded back to me, so...