"Hei" (Hello) from Zanhin Christensen:
Well, it wasn't the email we were expecting...no details or answers to questions. But we do have an email address now. Here is the email message we received: "Hello, its trev emailing for the first time at the mtc. its my p day and so far I am doing well in the mtc. the food is ok, although of course it is sort of making me sick. I am going to schedule my emails at 1:30 for now so you can anticipate." (Mom's reaction was: What! That is all I get?)
We also received a letter today (or yesterday...we have a hard time remembering to get the mail). We will check the mail on Tuesday so we can email our responses before Wednesday. His letter was a little more enlightening.
"I have been having a good time with my companions. We were more energetic by the 3rd day in the MTC. I enjoy being with them most of the time. One of my companions is Elder Peterson from Chicago. The other one is Elder Sharp from Bountiful, UT. The food is bad and it upsets my stomach. I brought drugs with me, so I'll be fine. Tell me about Dad and Jason's high adventure trip to the Tetons when they get back. I want some happy news.
I am verrrry busy. I am working hard to learn the language, but it is very difficult. I just found out why Finnish is so hard to learn. It has 14 cases. I learned some new words in Finnish like 'commandments' is "Kasky" and 'God' is "ymela". Only they don't sound anything like how you spell them. The 'Y' makes a "u" sound. Tell Arica "thanks" for the advice. I have had some pretty cool stuff happen already. The meetings here are so good to help me get started on what we need to be focused on for our mission. It has been challenging. On the first day, the Finnish teacher just started talking in Finnish!
Thanks for the short sleeve shirts. I'm sure they will come in handy. I've already gone through 3 shirts. The suits are holding up fine. Tell Jordan I'd like to thank him for calling me before I entered the MTC. It's nice to know your family is thinking about you. I would appreciate another letter from everyone. Bye, Elder Christensen"
You can go to www.DearElder.com and send a free letter to the MTC for Trevor. He said the letters through them were great. You will need his MTC information so just refer to this blog for it.
"jhk asti lahinna viikko"
Until next week.....
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
The "Alku" or Beginning
Hello Friends and Family,
We hope you enjoy keeping up with Zanhin (Elder) Christensen as he serves the Lord in the Helsinki Finland Mission. He entered the MTC on July 22, 2009. We took a few pictures by the main entrance sign before driving in to drop him off at curbside. We had a great time taking pictures with two other missionaries from Logan. One of Trevor's best friends, Ryan Clawson, was there, as well as Nick Borgogna. They were supposed to report at the exact same time on the same day. We were excited to see these 3 awesome guys ready to serve the Lord. It's amazing that they can coordinate all the missionaries arriving all day long. We hope the "swine flu" doesn't affect many more missionaries. However, the drop-off arrivals are supposed to be permanent. There wasn't much time to think about being sad. You pull up to the curb, unload suitcases, take one picture in front of the MTC buildings, give everyone a hug and off your missionary goes into a maze of buildings....and (drum roll) never to return...at least for two years. I liked it better when the missionaries could go to the University Mall and discreetly meet their family while they did their shopping on P-Days.
We received our first letter from Trevor on Saturday. It was short and sweet, but Trevor seemed excited that they had starting learning Finnish on his 2nd day. We asked Carol Armstrong to share a few Finnish phrases and words. The first one we learned is "Zanhin" means "my eldest brother" That is the official title for the missionaries in Finland. So feel free to address your coorespondence to Trevor with it. "Kuinka voitte" means How are you? and "kseksi kirjeeseenne" means "in answer to your letter". I'm sure he would love to use that phrase....letters are a missionary's best friend.
He would appreciate any letters or packages from you. We are including his mailing address for the MTC. He will be there for the next three months. His departure date for Finland is October 13. Since he survived at home on peanut butter and honey, we've already sent him a loaf of bread a jar of peanut butter and one of honey to get him past the midnight snack hunger attacks.
His mission president instructed Trevor to ask his family and friends to pray that he would receive the gift of tongues as he strives to learn Finnish and get ready to teach the gospel to the people in Finland. Please join us in seeking for this blessing in his life. The people of Finland are kind and supportive of the missionaries that come to their country and are so impressed that they are willing to learn their language. There are only 50 missionaries in the entire mission so they have a big work to do.
We hope you enjoy keeping up with Zanhin (Elder) Christensen as he serves the Lord in the Helsinki Finland Mission. He entered the MTC on July 22, 2009. We took a few pictures by the main entrance sign before driving in to drop him off at curbside. We had a great time taking pictures with two other missionaries from Logan. One of Trevor's best friends, Ryan Clawson, was there, as well as Nick Borgogna. They were supposed to report at the exact same time on the same day. We were excited to see these 3 awesome guys ready to serve the Lord. It's amazing that they can coordinate all the missionaries arriving all day long. We hope the "swine flu" doesn't affect many more missionaries. However, the drop-off arrivals are supposed to be permanent. There wasn't much time to think about being sad. You pull up to the curb, unload suitcases, take one picture in front of the MTC buildings, give everyone a hug and off your missionary goes into a maze of buildings....and (drum roll) never to return...at least for two years. I liked it better when the missionaries could go to the University Mall and discreetly meet their family while they did their shopping on P-Days.
We received our first letter from Trevor on Saturday. It was short and sweet, but Trevor seemed excited that they had starting learning Finnish on his 2nd day. We asked Carol Armstrong to share a few Finnish phrases and words. The first one we learned is "Zanhin" means "my eldest brother" That is the official title for the missionaries in Finland. So feel free to address your coorespondence to Trevor with it. "Kuinka voitte" means How are you? and "kseksi kirjeeseenne" means "in answer to your letter". I'm sure he would love to use that phrase....letters are a missionary's best friend.
He would appreciate any letters or packages from you. We are including his mailing address for the MTC. He will be there for the next three months. His departure date for Finland is October 13. Since he survived at home on peanut butter and honey, we've already sent him a loaf of bread a jar of peanut butter and one of honey to get him past the midnight snack hunger attacks.
His mission president instructed Trevor to ask his family and friends to pray that he would receive the gift of tongues as he strives to learn Finnish and get ready to teach the gospel to the people in Finland. Please join us in seeking for this blessing in his life. The people of Finland are kind and supportive of the missionaries that come to their country and are so impressed that they are willing to learn their language. There are only 50 missionaries in the entire mission so they have a big work to do.
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