Camron's letter.........Sept. 17, 2012

Hola Familia, We had to go to Santa Cruz last Monday at 6:30 in the evening and we had some pretty good experiences. However after riding on the train for only 15 minutes, the back car of the train came off the tracks and we suddenly started to stop pretty fast. Then all of the sudden, all of the lights shut off, and then the air turned off too. There was dead silence for awhile and nobody knew what was going to happen to us. Then suddenly, the doors swung open and a bunch of people entered with masks on and with guns in their hands!!  Haha, just kidding. But really, we had to wait for like an hour and a half to get the train put back on the tracks so we could start moving again. Then an hour later it derailed again and we had to wait once more, haha. The third time it happened, they took the back car off, and we went on to Santa Cruz without the back of the train.  It ended up taking us16 hours to get to Santa Cruz. It normally just takes only an hour when we take the plane. But it turned out to be really cool because in the morning we saw a bunch of birds. Birds that I haven't ever seen before in my life. At one point the train scared up at least 100 flamingos and storks that were pink/white and white with black. It was was pretty awesome. But after getting to Santa Cruz, I was priviledged to baptize the 8 year old son of the familia Guaristy. They are still very strong in the gospel and the dad just received the melquesdec priesthood. It was an awesome baptizimal service and the mom and the dad both bore awesome testimonies of how they knew they were in the only true church. They expressed how greatful they are to be part of this gospel and also to be able to become an eternal family. It's awesome to see how their family has stayed strong in the church.  I'm sure they will continiue to be strong. We were blessed this week to be able to help a young family attend church. They stayed for the whole three hours with their three little kids. The dad just got to bed 2 and a half hours before church started and when we called him at 8 in the morning he told us he would go. The mom likes the church a bunch and she wants to go again, and she also wants to be baptized. She has a slight problem though. She will have to get married first. So we hope her "husband" will be willing. The awesome couple Rosio and George that we are helping, had to go to work Sunday but we were able to visit Rosio last night and we planned a family home evening with a family of converts today. So we hope they will help them out a lot. Rosio wants to go to church too but George seems to be a little scared. We are praying that everything will go well with him and that he will want to attend church too. This week we will be going to Santa Cruz again, but this time we will be going with all of the zone. We are leaving tomorrow at 4:00 and we will be riding on a different train. Not the one we went on last time, haha. Unfortunately this one is slower so its going to be fun too. I look forward to writing you next week to tell you how this week went. I hope this week will be awesome for all of you.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......Sept. 10, 2012

Hola fmailia, This week has been a great week. We worked hard with Jorge and Rocio (the couple we found that are awesome). We taught them Saturday, and they told us that they didn't want to rush things. They also said that they couldn't promise us that they would come to church. They said that it will take some time. It just felt way sad during this lesson and I couldn't think of what to say because we wanted so badly for them to come to church so they could see how it would bless their lives. So I was trying so hard to be guided by the spirit to be able to say something.  I then felt that we just needed to tell them how much they mean to us and how much we wanted them to be happy. Also that we knew what they needed to do so that they could be happy together. I gained a even stronger testimonio on how love truly casteth out all fear and is very powerful. I just followed the impressions of the holy ghost and all those sad feelings went away. We told them to read Alma 32 and to pray together and ask God if they should go to church. We promised them without any doubts, in the name of Jesus Christ, that if they would do this they would feel the need to go to church. Then on Sunday morning, we called them and they told us that they were going to church. After they hung up, we were cheering and celebrating. It was so awesome. The sad part however is that the car broke down that they drive. But Rocio made it to church and she stayed for the entire three hours. On another sad note, Miguel that was progressing with a baptismal date, went to Santa Cruz today and he is going to be there for a month. But I'm confident that when he gets back, he will be baptized. He will be back around the 20th of October so we are hoping that everything will go great with him. We are excited to work hard this Tuesday. We will be going to Santa Cruz this week, but we have to travel by train because the plane isn't going to come here Tuesday, haha. So 14 hours on a train. It's gonna be a blast. I do hope you all have a great week.   Love,  ELder Christoffersen

Camron's letter....Sept. 3, 2012

Hola Familia, Once again, this week was a pretty good one, and once again we worked hard and were able to find some pretty good investigators. We hope that they will be able to progress. It was also pretty cold at the beginning of the week. Now it's like a blazing fire! It's the hottest that it's been this whole year!  Monday we were contacting and we came to this house and clapped our hands ( just like knocking on the door in the US) and this guy came out. We introduced ourselves and asked if we could share a message with him and his wife. He told us that they were busy trying to resolve and get through some problems that they were having at this time. We told him that this was a great time for two missionaries sent by the Lord to come help them get through these rough times and solve some of the problems they have. We asked him to go ask his wife if we could share a message of happiness to help bring the spirit of the Lord into their home. He jogged back into his house and then he came out and said, "you can come in." We came in and we were able to teach them a great message about how the gospel will truly bless them as a couple and their future family when they have kids if they are willing to make the effort to live it. They both told us that this is what they truly needed and they were sure that if they started to live the teachings of this gospel, the Lord would bless them. We invited them to pray together that night and ask the Lord for help to get through these times of trials. We also told them that if they would do this, the Lord would be with them and strengthen them. We made an appointment to come back and we arrived at their home two days later. They were ready to listen and they said that they had prayed together that night and said it truly helped them. It's way awesome because we have become great friends already. They could even remember our names after the first time they saw us. When they prayed, they asked to bless Blaser and Christoffersen and their families that are so far away. We are praying and hoping that they will accept the gospel because they are such an awesome couple and they truly want to learn more and come unto Christ. It's so awesome to find people who truly want to listen and really enjoy listening. Then they realize how great it is to listen to this message because of how much it brings the spirit into their homes. It truly makes you feel great as a missionary being able to help people and families recieve these blessings in their lives. I hope that you all have an awesome week.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter .....August 27, 2012

Hola Familia, This week went pretty well. We were able to do service for the family of Miguel Tomicha who has a baptismal date for the 15th of September. We helped weed part of his lot where he wants to put a garden and we were able to work along side of him. The cool thing is that his dad actually came to church this week, and he said that he liked it a lot. He isn't married however, so we hope that we can help them out with that, and hope his mom will want to go to church too. We have been working really hard this week. It was pretty crazy though because it randomly got cold. It was really hot Friday and then all the sudden on Saturday morning, it got really cold, and it's still cold. So I'm sure that we will be in our long sleeve shirts for a day or two more. We are searching constantly to find some more investigators here that have been prepared to receive the gospel. We seem to be planting a lot of seeds. The Lord truly prepares those who need the gospel because there are so many things here in the world that can stop people from getting baptized. But if they have truly been prepared and they're willing to accept the gospel and they're able to overcome the temptations and keep going faithfully down the righteous path, the Lord will bless them. Our branch is still growing and starting to become more and more organized every week. I am very happy to be part of this branch because the leaders truly want to help the branch grow and do things according to the rules. One of these Sundays, we are going to leave early with the district president and try to bring a family of our investigators to church with us. I truly hope that we can find those who have been prepared and we are going to work really hard so that we can. We know that what ever happens, if we do our all, we will be doing the will of the Lord. I am excited to talk to you all next week and I hope that you have an awesome week.           Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....August 13, 2012

Hola familia, This week was really great! We worked really hard and we could see all the blessings from our efforts. We had this 18 year old guy come to church this Sunday and his name is Luidy. He says that he really wants to live a better life. He also said that he just feels deep down inside that he needs to become a better person. He agrees with what we have been teaching him and that it will help him to achieve his goal. We were so happy to see him when he came into the church yesterday. Last week he came into the church and went into the room where we hold Sacrament meeting. He said that he got scared and then left. But this time he came in and he even sat like 3 rows from the front. It was way cool. We hope that the Lord will continue to prepare him so that he can be baptized the 1st of September,  the day that we put down as a baptisimal date for him. We have been blessed this week to be able to find new investigators, and we are trying to help them understand this message. We have been working hard as a companionship and I'm sure we are going to have some awesome experiences. We both work really well together and we understand one another. My comp and I gave talks in church yesterday about the restoration and it was pretty cool teaching in church what we teach everyday. The spirit was way strong and its pretty crazy to see how strong our testimonies of the restoration have become, and how we know without any doubts how, why, and through whom the true church was restored. It's great to be able to stand up in front of people and testify without a doubt that we are members of the true church and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. That the Book of Mormon is true, and that we are in the kingdom of God that will and is being prepared for the second coming of the Mesiah. It's awesome that we are part of the true church and it's so obvious that it is true. Well I'm sure we are going to have a good week. Last week we had some problems with an elder being able to get into his area in Brazil, so he had to get an emergency transfer. So we worked with the two missionaries from the Brazil area for a couple days. But now everything is all straightened out and we are pretty sure that we will have a full week to work together. I do hope that you guys have an awesome week.     Love,  ELder Christoffersen

Camron's letter...... August 20

Hola familia, This week was really good and we worked really hard. We were able to find a lot of new investigators with the hope that they will be able to progress. We are teaching this family that is pretty pare they live in this house with wood boards and also a tarp to cover part of there roof, but they are a really good family. There son that is 23 went to church this week and he accepted a baptismal date for the 15th of september and he seems to be pretty excited because he told his parents that he was gonna be baptized and that he also enjoyed going to chruch. This week as a zone we are gonna go over there and help them cut down weeds so that they can start a garden in there lot. I hope serving them will help them to see that we care and being representatives might help them to feel the importance of the church and that it makes us diferent then the rest. The 18 year old Luidy wasnt able to go to church this week because he was sent to a little village out side of our area and didnt get home till today so i hope that he will be able to go to church this week. We watched the joseph smith movie with him  this week and he really enjoyed it and was really enterested in the fact that moroni hid the plates and then appeared to joseph smith to show him where they were hidden. But we will see what happens this week with him. We have realized something very cool this week one of the best ways to activate in active is to teach them first as missionaries and then after have the President of the Branch and ELders Quorum go visit them after a couple days. IT was cool because a family with mom dad and four kids came to church and the dad of another church after not going to church for quiet awhile. I am pretty sure that it helps the people know that they are appreciated and that they mean a lot to the branch. Its great becaus the branch is starting to be strengthened a lot and starting to grow. IT is starting to get way hot here but a think i am gettin used to it my companion hasnt gotten used to it yet he is sweating like crazy and it hard for him to sleep in all this heat. But i am sure he will get used to it soon. We played a good game of soccer this morning and our team one and i got a few goals that were pretty good. I have been wondering if after the mission will i ever play soccer again in my life haha but we will see. ITs pretty crazy President Maines that just got called to the presidency of the quorum of the twelve is coming in a week to our mission but we are out of santa cruz so i doubt we will see him but oh well we will be able to work more time. We have been contacting some pretty poor houses this week and it is pretty sad the condiciones that they have to live in but it truely shows you that money does not make you happy because these families are happy and great people. What truely makes someone happy in live is the gospel because you can become spiritually full and in other aspects in life you can never get enough to be satisfied, money, car, clothes, theses things just cause us to want more. But just like christ says the water that i can give thee will cause that you will never again have thirst. And also when he said come and buy of the milk and honey with out price. You can truely understand during the missionwhat truely makes you happy and you learn to hate all the bad stuff especially here because you can see a lot of stuff that happens that truely doesnt make the people happy here. Its truely a blessing to be born in the gospel to grow up surrounded by things that truely make you happy. Some times when its all around you you can get used to it and not realize what its worth just like we are taught by moroni that you need to go to the depths of humility when you are prospering to remember how much god has truely blessed us and how much he has given us to truely recognize how priviledged we are to live in these circumstances. The church is 100% obviously true just like the sky is blue. Hope you guys have an awesome week,and  cant wait to talk to you next week Love Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....August 6, 2012

Hola Familia, I am very happy to say that the Lique family was baptized this Saturday. The mother,(Ignacia), father, (José), and their son, (Rodrigo). It was awesome! We were going to their house to pick them up and Rodrigo was outside waiting for us and looking out their fence door. When he saw us, he opened the fence door fast and their van started backing out so that they could take us to the church with them for their baptism. I was priviledged to baptize Ignacia, and Rodrigo. My comp, Elder Blaser, was able to baptize Jose'. It was pretty funny because Ignacia and Rodrigo, (the 12 year old son) weigh the same, so it was pretty easy baptizing them. The water was quite cold and they were a little scared because of that. But after the baptism, we asked if Jose' was cold and he said, "no I feel warm". I'm sure he could feel the holy ghost testifying to him that the decision that he had made was a good one and was going to help him alot in his life. Sunday they all made it to church in time to be confirmed. I was priviledged to be able to confirm Jose and Rodrigo. It's always a great feeling when the holy ghost is guiding your words, and you are able to know exactly what you need to say. The spirit was so strong and we had an awesome day at church!  Since I'm the first councelor in the branch, the President and I take turns conducting. I was able to announce callings and sustainigs and ask if everyone supported or was against those callings. Never thought I would be doing that in the mission field, but it's some good practice for the future if I'm called to do it. The branch that we are in is starting to become organized pretty well, and I'm sure it will start to grow. Our President is an awesome guy and a great leader. He cares a lot about the branch and he is willing to work hard. We were able to play soccer today. It's independance day for Bolivia so there are a lot of parties and parades going on. We had an awesome soccer game today. The Latins were saying that it was like the gringos versus latinos. We said allright then, lets do it. There were 4 of us and 5 of them and we started beating them 6 to 2. By the the time the game ended, it was 15 to 12 and we beat them!  It was fantastic! Oh and while we were playing, we saw some tuacans flying above us and a wild monkey in the trees. It was pretty legit. The Latins weren't too happy, but we had a good game. My comp and I are working really well together. We have goals to work extremly hard so that we can be great examples for the zone. We want to be able to be tools in the Lord's hands and be able to save those that He has prepared for us. We have some great elders in our zone and we are all really excited to work hard and see what we can do together. We had a great time in Santa Cruz. It was a great concilio! There are going be alot of new zone leaders in the next four months because more than half of the zone leaders are going to go home. But the mission has a bunch of awesome missionaries. You can truly see that the missionaries that have been sent here, needed to be sent here. This should be a great week because we're going to be able to work the entire week, and we're going to work hard. I'm excited to be able to tell you how things go next week.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter......July 30, 2012

Hola Familia This week was pretty good. We had our cambios and I'm once again with another American and his name is Elder Blaser from Pocatello, Idaho. Now I've been companions with the only two Elders from Pocatello. He is pretty cool. We have a lot in common and I'll bet we're going to have an awesome time as companions. I'm pretty sure the Elder Blaser is going to be my last companion because when you come here to Puerto Suarez as a Zone leader you usually always stay for at least 6 months. So we will probably have four months together. I'm sure we will have a blast working hard. We are pretty excited with the baptisms that we're going to have this Saturday with the familia Lique. They passed their interviews and they are excited to be baptized. We had an awesome experience  during church yesterday. We always teach a class for the new converts and investigators and there was this sister that's about 56 years old who was recently baptized this year. She told the Lique familia that she had changed dramatically after being baptized and that it has helped her to become a much better person. She also explained that she was nervous about being baptised and didn't want to so it at first. Then the father of the Lique familia said " I have some doubts too. I want to go to church a little bit longer so I can get to know the church better, but the missionaries say that we need to be baptized now so we can be cleaned of our sins." Then this sister responded to him and said,  "That's very true. You guys need to do it because our Heavenly Father will change your lives and willl help you become better people." Then without knowing that we had already had a baptismal date with them for this Saturday, she said to them, "How about this Saturday for your baptism?" Then they said "You're right. We need to be baptized." Then she said, "What hour? Is 5 o clock ok?" The Lique mom said "but that is late and the water will be cold." and she responded, "but God wont let that happen to you. He will protect you once you become baptized." and then she said, "Ok vamos a hacer lo a las 5 and she was really happy. Then this sister promised that she would be at the baptism. It was way pretty crazy! My companion and I were just listening to what was happening the whole time. We were pretty shocked. It was like a miracle had just happened and it was funny because this sister said at the end "Elders, you´ve got a baptism this Saturday." haha. Its pretty amazing how much help the members can be to the missionaries. The investigators need friends in the church or it's almost impossible to stay strong in the church or to even decide to be baptized. When the missionaries work with the members, the spirit is always stronger and the investigators gain a much greater desire to act upon what they learn and to develop the desire to change their lives. We were able to see Soni this week and to teach with the Branch President. This helped a lot because President gives direct and good answers and Soni truly believes a lot of what he says. He has read 4 Ensigns and the Book of Mormon already and with the help of the Branch President, we were able to relieve his doubt about being baptized twice. We truly hope these teachings will be able to help him out, and help him make the decision to change his life around. He told us this week he is going to pray to find out if he needs to be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We really hope that he prays with faith and is willing to recieve his answer in the way the Lord gives it. Things are looking great for our zone this month of August and we're sure we will have a great month. Tuesday we are flying down to Santa Cruz for the Concilio and we hope that we can still have a good week of work even though we will be away for 3 days. I'm sure our trip will be great and I'm looking forward to be able to tell you how it went next week.  Hope you guys have an awesome week.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter......July 23, 2012

Hola familia, This week was pretty good again. We are working as a trio, which is three missionaries working together. We are working with elder Dunham and he is also from our group. It's pretty cool to work with him because he's a good missionary and he is great at gaining the confidence of investigators and the members. We got to help out with a marriage and then at a baptismal service in Puerto Suarez where elder Dunham works. This couple had been investigators for like half a year and they couldn't be baptized because they weren't married. But a friend of President Calderon wanted to pay for a marriage for someone here in the mission, so we made arrangements and he sent us the money needed. Everything worked out great. They were both married and baptized Saturday and then confirmed yesterday. So now they are members of the church and they're so excited that everything worked out so well. It was a great night. We are still working hard here in my area and we are seeing progression with our investigators. We were blessed to have the Lique family attend church this week and things still look good for their baptismal date on the 4th of August. They go to all three hours of church every time they attend, and they seem to like it. They also have friends in the branch. We are also teaching the family Ayala where there is a father, mother, and two kids that can be baptized. The mom and her son went to church this week and two weeks ago they all went to church. I was priviledged to witness a very touching forgiveness during a family home evening. The mother of the family has had a lot of fights with her mom. The last one they had was over 2 years ago and they haven't talked to each other ever since. But the mother invited her daughter to a family home evening and, during the family home evening the mom apologized to her daughter while she was crying. Then her daughter stood up and apòlogized too. The spirit was so strong and I could truly feel the power of forgiveness during this lesson. You could see the burdens taken off the backs of both of them. It was the strongest that I have felt the spirit for a long time, and it truly showed me the importance of forgiving others. We really need to forgive all and not worry about what the other person did because they probably don't really understand what they did. God will judge those who have offended and have caused damage. It is truly amazing the power that forgiveness has to take away the sadness and guilt. The power of the atonement is truly infinite. Soni is doing well. He is having a hard time believing that we shouldn't drink tea and coffee. But we finally got him to agree to pray to God and ask him if he should not drink them. He is an awesome guy and he is starting to open up a lot. We are becoming great friends. It is pretty funny that when we speak in Spanish, he doesn't understand. When I speak to him in English, my comp doesn't understand. And when he talks in Ebu (his native language) we can't understand. It's pretty crazy. Well cambios are this Wednesday, and I'm 99.9% positive that I will be assigned a new companion. So I will be excited to tell you guys next week what happens. Have an awesome week. Forgive someone this week, and ask forgiveness from someone you have offended.  I promise you will feel the power of the atonement, and it will be truly special.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......July 16, 2012

Hola familia,  this week was pretty good and once again we had a lot of success. We also had a good time with President Caldron. He came up and presided over our zone conference. It's way cool because planes usually only come in to Puerto every other day, so he got to spend almost three days with us. Everything was really great. We learned a lot of good stuff and he's a lot more layed back because there are only 8 Elders in our zone (and you can't come to this zone unless you are obedient). So he relaxes a lot more when he is with us. He taught us quite a bit more about teaching. He is crazy good at teaching and pretty funny too. We all ate lunch together and I ate yakaré (which is alligator here) It was pretty good and tastes a little bit like fish. The zone here is working hard and we are seeing  many blessings from such work. I'm sure we'll continue to progress. It was so great because we had the familia Lique in church today and they enjoyed and accepted the invitation to be baptized the 4th of August. I hope all goes well with their baptism and that we will be able to help them get to that point. We also hope to be able to help them obtain the goal to go to the temple. We were able to teach Soni from Nigeria again, and he has already read two more Ensigns, haha. He says he loves them. His hesitation is that he has already been baptized and thinks that you can only do that once in your lifetime. But he says he is going to pray to see if God wants him to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. He really wants to go to the conference center and watch conference. He says he will be in the U.S. this next year so maybe I will be able to attend conference with him. I truly hope the spirit will work through the words of the talks written by modern day prophets in the Ensign to help him know the church is true and that his family will be extremely blessed through the restored gospel. I know that he will be a great member of the church and be a great strength also. We have a baptism planned this week for this man named Mauro. He has been an investigator for quite a long time and with the help of his friend who is going to be baptized in another area here, he has built up the desire and strength to be baptized as well.  I hope that he can keep building his testimony and that we can help so that it's strong enough to carry him through faithfully in the church. I am excited for this week and I'm sure that we will be able to witness great blessings. I'm also excited to be able to tell you how everything goes next week. Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter......July 9, 201

Hola familia, This week was pretty good but it was a hot week to start out. We got to fly into Santa Cruz and when we got there it was really cold outside, ha ha.  We left like 100 degree weather and walked out into cold weather.  But Concilio was really good. We learned a lot and we even got to play soccer with Presidente Calderon and all of the other zone leaders. It was pretty cool because I made a goal and my comp gave me a great pass so I could score it. So when we came back from Concilio, it was still really hot in Puerto Suarez.  We didn't think the cold front would get here, but then everything changed on Friday and the cold weather arrived. It got really cold too, ha ha. Good thing I brought my winter clothing. Fortunately it wasn't too bad. We have been working hard and we were blessed to have a father and his two sons from the Lique family come to church. They really enjoyed being there and they like the church a lot. They even stayed the entire three hours. We were able to teach them last night. As we taught them they said they would be willing to be baptized once they knew more. They are humble and loving people and want to learn even though they are a little bit older. I'm sure they will be be baptized and become great members. I received some awesome news from my old comp, Elder Faálafua when I went to Concilio. He told me that they were able to baptize the Aguilar family. I was so happy when I heard that!  He told me that they taught their family with Presidente Calderón. They said at the beginning of the lesson that they wanted to be baptized but they just needed more time to learn. But Presidente told their family at the end of the lesson "you guys are going to be baptized next week, and I will baptize your daughter,  Elder Faálafua will baptize the dad, and his comp will baptize the mom." and they said,  "O.k. you're right. We need to be baptized." and they were baptized the 7th of July. It's amazing how much power Presidente Caldron has. He truly teaches with power and authority. But I am so excited to be able to see the Aguilar family again. It was truly a blessing to be able to teach them for two months. I was a little sad not to be able to see their baptism, but I'm content that they are now members of the church and on the straight and narrow path. We taught Soni yesterday (the Nigerian guy), and he already finished the whole Ensign that we gave him last week on the conference talks. He told us that one day he was having some trials and he just happened to read President Eyring's talk on Mountains to climb and he said after reading it, he felt so happy and content even though he was having a hard day. It truly shows the power that a General Authority has as well. I really hope that Soni will be able to be baptized in Nigeria, because he doesn't speak the Spanish language. He wants to be able to attend church there so he can understand what is being taught. He is such an awesome guy. Well I hope you guys have an awesome week, and always remember the worth of souls is truly great in the sight of God.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......July 2, 2011

Hola Familia, This week was pretty good but kind of sad because my comp got sick because he didn't have his wisdom teeth taken out before his mission. He is now paying the price for it. Fortunately he's doing a lot better today but he's still swollen. It does seem like the medicine he took really helped him out. We are going to Santa Cruz Tuesday to go to the council meeting with President, so we'll be able to go to the dentist to see what needs to be done with his teeth. But it was kind of cool because I got to go work in Brazil for two days because one of the missionaries in that area got a stomach bacteria. So me and his companion went there because they had some pretty important appointments. It's crazy because pure Portuguese is a 100 percent change in language. I felt like a new missionary again, ha ha. I couldn't hardly teach at all, but I did bare my testimony in Portuguese. But what was really cool was that the spirit over came me and I could bare my testimony with confidence even though I know that I probably said some things incorrectly. One of the investigators said "amen" after I'd born my testimony and helped me to understand that the holy ghost carried the words to his heart and showed him that it was true. It is so awesome to feel the spirit when the words come from a different language. But you can tell that Brazil is a lot better off economically because the area the missionaries have is a poorer area in Brazil, but it's still a whole lot better off than the majority of the places here in Bolivia. But we were very blessed to have a family come to church this week. It was the same family that came to church last week (because they had to go to La Paz ) But this family really shocked us when they came. For the last 5 months, only the son had been going to church, but he always came. Even when he had to do a parade thing for school as an assignment he still came to church and I'm sure it helped his family out a lot to gain strength to go to church. It just comes to show how important it is to be an example at all times. Especially if you want to help out a loved one. If you truly put God first and do his will, He will be able to bless you and those around you. If we always decide to put Him first, we will always be able to see and receive precious blessings in our lives. We really hope that we can be able to help out these families. We also hope that we will be able to be tools in the Lord's hands to help bring to pass His work and his glory for them. I have truly understood this week one of the biggest tools to success is humility. You always need to understand that everything depends on the Lord and every blessing we receive depends our desire to receive His help. I hope you all have an awesome week and try to depend on the Lord by doing everything possible to get to that point.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....June 25, 2012

Hola Familia, This week was pretty good. My companion and I worked really hard and we were able to see that because of our prayers and hard work, we were guided to some families that really needed the gospel in their lives. We really hope that we can help them apply our message in their lives. We were very blessed to have a family come to church with us Sunday.  This week was the district conference and President Calderón and his wife came up and gave talks. It was really cool to hear their talks and all about the experiences that they had. We were really inspired by the talks that they gave and the family that came with us was really happy with what they learned. They said that their family really needs this in there life, so I hope that everything will go well so they can enjoy these blessings in their lives too. We were able to teach the guy from Nigeria again. We gave him the Book of Mormon Monday and we visited him again yesterday. He was already in Mosiah 13!  It was way cool. He told us that he loves this book.¨ He really enjoyed how it teaches us the gospel and helps us to understand it as well. He said if he hadn't have liked the book that he would have returned it to me that day. But he likes it a lot and he said he will keep reading it and probably finish it next week. He asked me to look up the adress of where our church is in his country so he can go there when he gets home. But what was really cool is that I was with the branch president and my comp that only speaks Spanish,  and I was able to translate their testimonies from Spanish to English. The spirit was so strong. It was crazy how strong the spirit was. It made me realize even more how they knew the Book of Mormon is the word of God and how much it can bless us and change our lives. But we will be working hard with this family that came to church with us. The parents are probably around 65 years old and they have a 36 year old son and a 11 year old son. They all came with us Sunday, and they all enjoyed the conference. Especially the songs we got to sing. I'm sure that we will have a great week.  We're going to work really hard again, with a lot of faith and obedience and we will see the blessings that we can recieve in the lives of those we will serve. Hope you guys have a great week.                             

Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter......June 18, 2012

Bon Dia como vai voces, I received my cambio this week and I'm pretty sad to not be with my old comp anymore. We were pretty good friends and we worked really well together. But we worked hard and I am sure he will have a lot of success with the awesome families that we were able to find. It was pretty sad though.  We planned a dinner with the Guaristy family Wednesday so we could tell them after we picked up the cambios and learn if we were going to stay or not or if I had cambios. Well I saw that I got the cambio and it was way sad when we told them that I had to leave. They all started to cry and the twelve year old went into his room and wouldn’t come out. It was pretty sad when we left. I gave the dad a hug and he was shaking and crying. But we will be excited to see each other again at the end of my mission.  I really realized after that even more so, how important that mission work is. I was able to say goodbye to the mom in the morning and she started to cry again, and she said,  "thanks to you guys my family will be an Eternal family,"  and I said no thanks to your Heavenly Father. I am sure they will continue to be strong in the gospel and be able to help build up His kingdom.  But I am pretty excited where I got to come for my cambio. I'm in Puerto Quijarro in Puerto Suarez which is right on the border with Brazil. There are two elders in our zone that are legitimately in Brazil in Corumba. They have to learn Portuguese because they don’t speak Spanish as their first language. Only a few do.  So they are pretty lucky. But we still study Portuguese just in case we get Brazilian investigators. So I hope that I can study really well and maybe i'll be able to build a strong base. My companion is Elder Contreras. He is from my group (has the same time in the mission as me ) and has just one cambio less than I do as a zone leader.  He is from Trujillo Peru (the same place Elder Sangay is from). We get along really well and we are working really hard together. The second day after I got here we contacted this guy from Nigeria. He speaks Portuguese, English, French, and a language from Africa. So I contacted him in Spanish and he responded in Portuguess, haha. But I understood a lot. Then he spoke to me in English so it would be easier to communicate, and my comp didn’t understand a thing. But we made an appointment and we came back and I ended up teaching his brother who doesn’t even speak Portuguese. So again, my comp couldn’t understand anything. But his brother speaks French, German, English, plus a language from Nigeria. It was so crazy to teach in English! It was amazingly hard, haha. But it went well and he has actually had missionaries visit his house about two years ago and he wants to listen again. He said that this time I need to come back with an American so we will see how it goes with him. I hope he can feel something and that we can teach him well enough.  My comp just happened to have a book of Mormon in English, so we're going bring him one tonight. And I will be going out with Elder Clegg whose area is in Brazil because it takes them 45 minutes to get to their area. So they don’t have their p-day and we do splits with them.  We are in a branch here with 30 people or less that go to church. But we are going to work hard so that we can help the branch grow. We have a 75 year old man with a baptism date. He is really awesome. He can still read really well. He reads at night and he truly wants to follow the gospel. We worked really hard these past four days and we were really blessed to find some great investigators. We came out here in a big (Bolivian) military plane, so the ride was a lot more smooth. As zone leaders we will be flying into Santa Cruz every month for council with the president. I am sure it will be great. President is coming up this Saturday for a zone conference with our zone and I am sure we will have a great time with him.  It's really cool here. Our area is like the side of a hill that goes down into this beautiful lake that belongs half to Brazil and half to Bolivia. We can even see the city Orumba in Brazil that’s way pretty . The Elders say they have paved roads and it's really clean!  A whole different world, haha. But we got to see some awesome big wild red and blue parrots fly overhead, and also a large tuacan. There was even a wild monkey running on the telephone line. I'm sure this week will be great and I can't wait to talk to you guys next week and tell you how things went. I hope that you guys have an awesome week, and that you all work hard.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......June 11, 2012

Hola Familia, This week was pretty good and it was the coldest week that we've had all year. But today we will finally get to see that good old sun that we haven't had in like 3 weeks! haha. But they say after three days of sun we will go right back to the cold. We have been working really hard as companions, and we have been blessed to see the fruits of our labors. We have been able to teach a lot of families this week and it was way cool. All of these families actually want to become better people and want to come unto Christ.  We have just gotten a "Leader" of the mission work and he came with us this week, and we taught some great lessons. You can truly see that every time you bring a new member with you to teach, the spirit is always so much stronger and the new member can relate a lot more to the investigators. All of the sacrifice you make to magnify your calling will always be worth it. We taught with Carmelo Guaristy and even though he's only been a member 3 months, he has been the best member to bring with us to teach. He just always follows the spirit and teaches and shares experiences from his heart. It just makes the lesson so much better. It's so crazy to see how he hasn't ever gone to any church here, which is rare and he can be so receptive to the spirit. Just goes to show that knowledge about the bible and the gospel alot of the times alone, won't make us more receptive to the spirit. It's the actions that we take to be humble and keep the commandments that will help us achieve the ability to be receptive to the spirit. We've been seeing how much the Lord has been blessing our zone for our efforts. Things are going really good. We are working with a lot of unity and we are excited to become an even better zone. Cambios are this Wednesday and I'm pretty sure that I will be transfered now and maybe even be moved out of Santa Cruz to be a zone leader elsewhere. That would be really cool. But if I stay here I will still work hard and will be happy to be able to keep working with the families that we've been able to find. I'll also keep helping and trying to be an example for the zone "La merced". A dónde me mande iré Señor. I am thankful for all of the blessings that I have recieved and I know it'ts because I have been given much, and I too must give. The best thing you can give is your time to help someone come unto Christ. What a blessing it is to give more and receive spiritual blessings. Thanks so much for all you guys do for me. Please try to give more this week because you also have been given so much.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......June 4, 201

Hola Familia. This week ended really good!  We worked hard and were blessed to find some awesome families. My comp was sick with dengue for 5 days and we finally got to go out to work Thursday. He didn't have it too bad but the crazy part is that the sickness ends with red dots all over your body and they itch like crazy! He got that really bad. The two times I had dengue, I didn't get that too badly, only a little bit. But he is doing great now and we're working just like before. I don't know if I told you guys, but the Guaristy family that we baptized is our pension family,(where we eat lunch every day). She made us lasagna and it was so dang good! We ate and then came back later that night to pick up leftovers to eat even more, haha. It was the best. She also makes this juice that is the best juice I've ever had in my life. I will have to make it for you guys when I come back home. This mom was also called to be the first counselor in the Relief society presidency. But what was way cool is that this Saturday she and her husband wanted to fast and so we fasted with them. They were pretty scared because they have never fasted before. But we all fasted and they had an awesome experience. They told us that they had to pray a lot and read the scriptures to get past the hunger that they had. It was cool too because they said they fed themselves spiritually so they could overcome the physical hunger. Which is definitely true when we walk in 100 degree temps with 90% humidity. We're working hard teaching our investigators and looking for those who have been prepared, and the hunger always goes away because you're more worried about others needs and focusing on the purpose of the fast that we are doing. But this fast was really special. We had an awesome day both Saturday and Sunday. We had made 2 appointments Saturday with 2 families to come back Sunday to teach them for the very first time. Before we taught them, a couple let us in to teach them as well, and they want to go to church now. The next day, we taught the two families and they are both really awesome. Especially the second family that we found. A mother and father with a ten year old daughter and a 6 month old son. When we were teaching them I asked the dad how he feels when his family is at home, safe, and happy? He paused for a couple of moments and almost started to cry and then he expressed how much it means to him. Then after teaching all of the lesson on how their family can become an eternal family and live together after this life forever, I asked the wife what she would be willing to do to obtain these blessings and she said "anything that would be required." It was awesome. The spirit was so strong during that lesson. After we left, we were so happy with how the lesson worked out. We started talking about how we were going to fast now 3-4 times a week, haha, because these were truly awesome blessings. It was awesome that the Aguilar family came to church with their 10 year old daughter and they really enjoyed the testimony meeting. They are looking forward to this Tuesday when we come and visit them again. They are an awesome family. The only thing that is going to be hard is that when they have parties with their cousins and siblings, many times they drink a little bit of alcohol. But they told us that they will get to the point where they don't do it anymore. So we are praying and trying to help them have the strength to let it go. I have a lot of faith that they will be baptized in the church. They truly have the desire to change their life and to do what the Lord wants them to do. But I now have 4 cambios in La merced in 2 weeks, and I'm pretty sure that I will be transfered out.  But if I am transferred,  I'm sure my comp will be priviledged to see their baptisms. I really enjoyed this week!  It was great and it truly helped my testimony grow on fasting, and fasting with faith according to the will of God. Things are going great with our zone. It seems like we should all be able to baptize someone this month, and it's because of the hard work that everyone is putting into it. It's pretty cool to see what can happen when everyone works together and works hard and with a true purpose. The ward we are part of is growing and they are starting to do their home teaching and helping to reactivate the less actives. We are truly blessed when we work together, and all the effort we put forth to get to that point is worth it. Well I hope you guys have an awesome week.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......May 28, 2012

Hola Familia, This week went pretty good but my comp just got "dengue" so were inside again. It's pretty sad to see someone with dengue because its a terrible sickness. But he's a strong camper and he is doing fair. He  doesn't seem to show much of the pain he has. I even told him that he was going to get really cold and he came out and said "dangit, I'm freezing". Then I told him that now he was going to probably experience a strong fever, and he came out and said, "dangit, I'm sweaten up a storm".  We both laughed at how I   called it. He probably only has like 3 days more to go (hopefully). His full name is Vance Coonchow Alihikawa Faálafua so I sometimes call him "Conichiwa Ukalele Faálafua" haha. We worked hard this week and we found this Muslum guy who says that he doesn't believe that Jesus Christ is a God and that he was only a prophet like all of the other prophets in the bible. They also don't believe in half of the New testament.  When we  taught him we testified that Jesus Christ is the only way and means by which man can return to the presence of God, because no one comes unto the Father unless it is through the Son. And how God sent His son to save the world. We testified that He is our Redeemer and Savior. Then we explained to him how he needs to trust in God more than in our fellow men, and if he prays with true purpose and with a true heart, that God will testify and help him know that Jesus Christ is the only one who can save us. We are truly hoping that this will help him even if it's just a seed planted. As long as it grows it should help him understand. I have been reading a bit in "Jesus the Christ" and the parables are awesome. My favorite is the one that says that if we had faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains. Then Talmage explains to us that a mustard seed  isn't the smallest seed but it makes the biggest difference from being such a small seed to becoming a tree. But then we also know that faith as small as a mustard seed needs to be nourished with works, hope, and confidence in the power of the Lord. If these things are applied then miracles will take place. It's not too fun to be stuck inside, and I cant wait until we can get out so I can share what I have been studying. I'm sure God will provide the way even though we're not able to work this week. I just finished the Book of Mormon yesterday,  and I repeat what Joseph Smith testified. "It is the most correct book in the world and through it we can become closer to our Heavenly Father. It is the work of God, the proof that the only true church is on the earth today, and what a blessing it is to represent it. I hope you guys have an awesome week.  I'll look forward to telling you how this week went next week.   Love,  Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....May 21, 2012

Hola Familia, This week was pretty good. My comp and I worked really hard and the Lord truly blessed us for our efforts. We were finally able to get some investigators to go to church with us. We had a mom and dad come to  church and they're really great investigatores. They're pretty interested in our message and are willing to be baptized if they come to know that this message is true, and that we are in the only true church. But they said that they really enjoyed church and that they have a lot of questions for us to answer. Mostly about what the talks were about.  It was ward conference yesterday so they spoke about Temples and the temple work for the dead, so I'm pretty sure the next time we teach them we'll have to explain a lot. We also had this 16 year old girl that is the sister in law of the owner of the house we rent out. He and his wife are members but they are not active and haven't gone to church in a long time. But we taught the dad with his sister in law, Diana and he told us that he and his wife will go back to church and they are going to support the sister in law to be baptized. It will be great to see them go to church because they haven't in such a long time. We also returned to this family who went to church back in January and they seem to be excited to go to church again and start to follow the gospel. We had a great lesson and they seemed to understand everything that we taught them, They expressed  that they truly want to change their lives around with their family. We hope everything will go really well with them. We had a pretty rough day yesterday however. We couldn't seem to get in to teach for like 7 hours and we had appointments planned out for every hour too. No one was able to listen to us. But I know that the bad days will always come and they will just open many doors to many blessings. I have thought a lot lately about how everyone says that satan tempts us and that people give into his temptations, and this happens to everyone. But if you look at it the other way around, God is just trying to strenghthen us and give us the opportunity to recieve more blessings, and too many times, we give up that opportunity. Everything that happens to us in this life and everything that God does is to bless us and strenghthen us. That's why it's so important to just always keep the commandments and endure through the hard and rough trials and sufferings so that everything will be for our good. It's interesting to know that everything that happens in our lives is for our good. Every consequense that we recieve whether it is good or bad is to help us and to bless us with the purpose from God to help us come unto his son, Jesus Christ. Well I'm excited to tell you next week how this week went. I'm sure it will be full of great blessings, hard work, and faith. Have an awesome week. Love,  Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.........May 14, 2012

Hola familia, It was great to talk to all of you yesterday and to hear that everything is going good back at home. I hope that things will continue to go that way and that you guys keep having success in life. I think it's so crazy how fast all the nieces and nephews are growing and how their voices have changed. They've also become so much more mature. Things between me and my comp are great. We're working really hard together and the good thing is that we work the same with the same work ethics. This makes it a lot easier to work with him. We are finding a lot of new investigators and we're hoping that we can find those who are truly prepared by the Lord to hear this message. We have had a couple families who couldn't go to church this week, but promised us that the next week they would make it. We have a lot of faith that we will have some great investigators go to church with us next week. It has rained so much the last three days, so we've been getting pretty wet, but the work still goes forth and will always go forth. I guess I can be thankful that it doesn't snow here. I can't believe that Toby is home now, and its so crazy that he is already going to school ha ha. That's got to be pretty rough. I hope that he can adjust fast to the home life. We have been teaching Julio Hugo and he says he doesn't feel worthy yet to be baptized. He says that he still has to work some things out in his life.  But we'll continue to help him and he'll always be in our prayers so that he can get ready for this sacred ordinance. We seem to be guided by the Lord to teach those who need the gospel. I'm always trying to be guided along with my companion to find those who truly need the gospel in their lives at this time. Those that have been prepared by God to hear our message. The zone has been working pretty hard and it was a little bit rough yesterday because there weren't very many that went to church because it rained so hard. But we have a lot of hope that this week will go really well. I have gained a lot more comfort through the faith and knowledge that the Lord will always bless us when we work hard, magnify our calling, and put our trust in Him. It's a great peaceful feeling and I know the Lord will guide us this week. Guide us to help those who he needs us to help and that we will be able to do miracles through His hands. And also to help our investigators move spiritual mountains in their lives. I am truly grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to serve here in Bolivia and hope that I can do all that I can to best serve my Heavenly Father and those who he has prepared.      Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....May 7, 201

Hola familia, This week ended pretty good. I finally was able to get out and teach again and it feels good! I'm way happy with the new comp I got.  His name is Elder Fa´alafua. He's from Orem and he is part Samoan and part Hawaiian. He's a pretty big guy, but I'm a little bit taller than him. He is from the same group as Elder Frost and Hansen were, so he has been out for 20 months. This is his first cambio as Zone leader, but he's an awesome missionary. He just got back from the frontera in Argentina. It's called Yacuiba. But we had a good three days to work together, and we are working really hard. I enjoy working with him a lot because he is very humble and he loves to work. Julio Hugo went to church this week but he left after sacrament meeting so we have no clue what happened. He told us his back was hurting him so we hope everything will still go well with him. His date to be baptized was to be this Saturday but we might have to move the date back a little. But we are way excited for this cambio because we work great together and I know we will be blessed through our hard work. We've found a lot of new investigators and we are really excited to teach them and help them progress. Things are going great with the converts. Every one of our converts went to church  yesterday and Fernando and Christian are going to receive the priesthood next week. It's going to be great! The ward we are in right now has really been blessed with convert families. We have three strong families including the familia Gaurtsy.It truly strengthens a ward with the new converts.Elder Hansen was sent to the Guardia to wait for his passport, so we hope everything will be alright.. He's lucky because that's where I came the first week of my mission and I'm sure he will love it. He might be able to work in the MTC the last 4 months. That would be really cool, because he would be able to fill his entire mission. I'm excited to see how this week will go. It truly seems like we are being blessed as a new companionship. I'm sure the Lord will continue to bless us. It's awesome to teach with the help of the spirit, and rely on thespirit's help to guide us. You will notice a lot of miricles if you only allow the spirit to help you. I hope all is going well at home with everyone.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....April 30, 2012

Hola familia, This week was a little bit different than the past weeks we've had because my comps knees are pretty bad. He received his answer back from the doctor in Salt Lake that he has to come home. It's pretty sad. He's taking it pretty rough, but he knows that he has done his best and that things happen. Sometimes things we don't want to happen. But the Lord will always guide us when we keep his commandments. So basically we didn't hardly work at all this week. We did get to study the scriptures a lot, and I read a couple of talks in the Liahonas. There's an awesome talk by Elder Bednar on the atonement. It's probably one of the longest talks that I've read in the Liahona. But it was really good. He helps us to understand how we can do anything because God will strengthen us and that when we pray we shouldn't pray to change situations but we should pray to recieve the strength to get through the situation or to overcome it. So I put it to the test this week through trials and temptation and it truly works. The Lord is truly willing to bless those who are willing to do all they can to receive His blessings and His help. We also were able to go to an awesome lunch with President and his wife because my comp is leaving. Without a doubt, it was the best lunch I have had during my whole mission up til now, haha. It was cool because it was just the two of us and the two of them. They live at the top of this 11 floor building and while we were going up the elevator, I wasnt feeling so good, idk why but once we got into their house to talk before going to lunch, I felt such peace. There was an awesome feeling from the words of the president. Once he started talking, I felt really peaceful. It's pretty cool to see how God truly calls his leaders and how in many ways he testifies to us how they were specifically called to lead and guide us and walk beside us. He is a great mission president and I am thankful that I have been able to serve under his direction. We did get to go out and teach Don Hugo Ferriera with permission from the president. The good thing is that he lives with the familia Guaristy so we got to spend some time with them this week. It is way cool. He tells us that his daughter's family was like a fire that had gone out and that we were what they needed to light the fire back up. He said that everytime we come, we help take their minds off their problems and bring peace into their home. He told us that is one of the main reasons that he wants to follow what we teach. It's because of how we make him feel and how much we have helped out his family. The thing is that it's not us that has brought this peace that has helped them carry their burdens with more ease. It's because of the gospel, the atoning sacrafice of the Savior, and the gift of the holy ghost. Three huge blessings that we have been given. If we apply them in our lives, we will have a living font of peace and our souls will not hunger. It's so crazy how simple God has made His plan for us. We are the ones who make it difficult. No matter how hard it seems to be able to follow the gospel, it makes our lives so much easier and more free. We are truly excited for Don Hugo. His baptisimal date is 12 de mayo, so we hope he is ready by then. He hasn't been smoking and he has given up coffee too. He said that even when his friends in the park invited him to drink coffee he turned them down. I pray that he continues to be blessed with the strength to give up these addictions. I hope you guys have an awesome week!      Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....April 23, 2012

Hola familia, This week was another good week. We were able to have zone conference with president and our zone is being blessed with baptisms again. We are working hard and trying all that we can to find those who have been prepared by the Lord. We had an awesome investigator go to church this week too. His name is Don Hugo Ferriera. He is the father of Katia, she is the mom of the Guaristy familia that we were able to baptize. The crazy thing to is that he is now going to church and he has a baptismal date, and he is fighting to stop smoking and drinking coffee. It's way cool that after taking his daughter out of the baptismal font over 26 years ago so she couldn't be baptized, he is now wanting to go to church and be baptized. I truly hope that everything will go well for him so that he can quit smoking and drinking coffee. He is a really awesome guy. He lived in the jungle for a much of his life so he didn't have a church to go to, but he always sent a little bit of money into poor commnities to try and help out those who were in need. He has always believed in God and tried to keep the commandments. I feel truly blessed to be able to teach him the restored gospel and do everything I can with my comp to help him follow it. Fernando was just interviewed for the preisthood and it seems like he will be ordained a deacon next week. His dad Carmelo is blessing the sacrament and it's way cool because they come to church in church clothes with their white shirts and ties. It always makes me happy to see a whole row filled with their family. I'm sure they will always be a big help to their ward. I'm feeling good! It seems like everything is going well in the mission, and I'm very happy that my back is feeling a lot better and that I'm able to work with ease. I will probably stay in this zone for another cambio. So that means that I have a good 6 months here and that I've had 6 months in Bajio, Riberalta, and La Merced. It looks like I might have just four zones in 2 years, ha ha. It will be great!  Well thank you for all you guys do, and have an awesome week!     Love,  Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....April 16, 2012

Hola familia, This week ended with two great baptisms and they were also confirmed in church. I think this was the hardest baptism to get ready for because we had so many problems with the baptismal fonts. In our church it takes like 5 hours to fill up the font so we turn the water on and then we leave and come back later to turn it off. We cleaned it all up and came back and there was like a foot of water in the font so we knew we wouldn't be able to fill  it up in time. So we had to go to another church to use their baptismal font.  When we arrived, the font was dirty and it had about a foot of water in it that we had to remove and clean in about an hour before the baptism was scheduled to start. We were so stressed and flying to try to get everything ready in time. We finally go it done and flew in taxi to go tell our two investigators that plans had changed. We were so lucky that out of all the members we invited, the only three who actually have cars showed up to the baptism so they helped us drive everyone to the baptism. It was awesome! We baptized 16 year old Diana and 13 year Pablo. They are the only members in their families now. but in both families all of their family members showed up to see the baptisms. It was way awesome because when there is going to be a baptism of someone who is going be the only member of the family, they usually don't have anyone that is there to support them. But it really turned into an awesome baptismal service. We are now once again looking for investigators that are prepared to follow the gospel and live it's principals. I know that we will for sure find those who are prepared with hard work and obedience. Our zone is working really hard again and it seems like we will be having another awesome month. We are doing all we can to help the zone keep working hard and praying for the blessings. The Lord is definitely blessing us for our efforts. Time is flying by like crazy. It's truly amazing when you lose yourself in the work, that time doesn't matter much. It just goes by without even noticing. I am pretty thankful to be in plan 3000 in La merced. It's a great area and a great zone. I'm pretty sure that I will be here for another cambio. It's going be a good time and I look forward to the great experiences that will come this week. My comp and I have a lot of plans to become better missionaries and I'm excited to see how it will help us out. It's interesting how there is always room for improvement and always more that we can do to serve our Heavenly Father. Every time we are willing to do that, we will always be blessed more and more. So if you want more blessings improve on your callings and serve the Lord more and more. They will come. "He that loses his life for the Lord's sake will find it."  Love,  Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....April 2, 2012

Hola familia, What a fantastic conference! It went by so fast. It's hard to believe. It's truly incredible how special conference is when you really understand how much it is worth. My favorite talk by far was the one by President Eyring. He did an awesome job! I think the best one for the church was by President Uchtdorf when he told everyone that they need to stop judging and its easy, "just stop doing it" haha. Then when Elder Ballard talked about how he loves the GPS so he can tell his wife he knows where he's going and he doesn't have to ask anyone for directions haha. And then when he said "I can tell you how to drive because I'm your husband and I hold the preisthood." haha. That was great. But it truly flew by. It's funny how a lot of people say that conference is like Christmas for missionaries and I didn't notice it as much until this time. Before conference I played the anouncement to the last conference when it said, this is the 185th semi anual general conferance (the Morning Breaks song was playing in the background). My companion and I and the other comps started to cheer. It was funny because we were so stoked! There was an English room where we could listen to conference, and I was the only missionary in my zone out of all the Americans who listened to it in Spanish. When the missionaries from the MTC sang, aparently they saw David Archuleta in the choir as a missionary! We all ran up to the screen to read his plack and when we realized it was him we all started cheering and jumping up and down that he had made the decision to be a missionary! My comp said afterwards that he felt kinda weird because we were like these 13 year old girls screaming and jumping as if  he came out to sing or something, haha. But wow, I've truly gotten an even stronger testimony about fasting. We fasted this week to help out an investigator named Javier who hasn´t been able to go to church for a month because of his work, and also to find a family. During our fast Saturday during the night we found a way awesome family, and they want to follow Christ better than they are right now. Then after our fast we went to go to see Javier Wednesday and he told us during the lesson that he couldn't stop thinking about how he really needed to get to church and he couldn't get it out of his mind. He told us for sure that he was going to go to church and nothing was going to stop him. I am so thankful for the power of fasting. It truly shows that God blesses us when we go the extra mile. A lot of times we can't see and can't understand how happy these blessings will make us when we go the extra mile for the Lord.  Just like it says in Ether 12: 6 "you will not recieve a testimony of these things until after the trial of your faith." May we all act with more faith and go the extra mile for the Lord so we will be blessed and have a full knowledge of this truth.  Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter....March 26, 2012

Hola Familia, This week was also pretty crazy. We had a bunch of cambios in our zone but Elder Hansen and I are still here working as companions so that's good. Elder Pino, that I trained, is now in our zone, so I was way happy for him to come. He had some success stories in Riberalta. His area had baptized the most in the zone too. We have 3 companionships who are opening a new area which means that 2 missionaries left their area, and 2 new missionaries came in. It's pretty crazy. We had 16 new missionaries come to the Santa Cruz mission, and only one was from the states. He came to our zone so my comp, his trainer, and I were cheering in the meeting. It was pretty funny haha. But the new elder is from Lehi. His dad was actually born in La Paz but has lived here in the U.S. since he was 18. He's a lot like me and my comp. He's really excited to work here, but his trainer just got his call and he recieved his Visa to go to Venezuela, so he's leaving tomorrow. We were pretty sad and so was he becasue he just got called to train and be a district leader. But I'm sure he will do a great job in his new mission. We have been working hard this week and we have this sixteen year old girl Diana with a baptismal date and a thirteen year old boy Pablo. They are awesome investigators and learn really fast. I'm pretty sure Pablo will be baptized too . We did a fast this week and asked for help finding some families to be able to baptize. We could see the Lord blessing us for our faith with actions. During our fast, we were walking down the road, and this dad told us that he wanted to talk with us. We told him we would  walk with him to his house and share something with him. He said sure. He told us there is something different about you guys and the church buildings you have. They are always clean with cut grass and bushes. It's something different than all of the other churches out there that you see. We told him first that it was because it's the only true church and because the Lord deserves the best that we can give Him. It's also a sign of what the true and pure beauty that tithing will bring. Especially when the pastors aren't getting all the money from tithing. Once in a lesson I related tithing to a scripture that is in Ephesian 2:21.  It says "and every building that is very organized will grow into a temple of the Lord."  We are the only church on the face of the earth with more than 135 functioning temples with around 15 in construction. This is a sign that through the organization in the church it will keep growing and building holy temples dedicated to the Lord. It is something truly special. We have had some pretty good lessons this week. The family that we found told us they are pretty excited to go to see conference this Saturday and they are truly amazed to hear how there is a conference broadcasted world wide so that everyone can hear the prophet and apostles of the Lord. This week I've thought a lot about the scripture  "by their fruits ye shall know them."  What greater testimony could we recieve than the many fruits that this church has. If you truly think about it, you can find thousands of fruits that the Lord has blessed us with so we can know that His true church is on the earth today. So we are left without any doubts that we have this truth. I have no doubt at all that these things are true and I will never be able to deny it no matter what happens. This is the kingdom of the Lord here on the earth today for the preperation of the second coming.    Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....March 19, 201

¿Como le va mi Hermosa familia?, This week ended very good. We were very happy to be able to baptize Fernando. He was so excited to be baptized too.  He was so nervous before hand, but he did a very good job and the baptism was awesome. Fernando is also very excited to get the priesthood. It was nice to be able to baptize this family. They always tell us how much we mean to them and they always want to help us out with whatever we need. Carlino made me a baseball bat. It was way cool and they signed all of their names on it too. Elder Hansen has been pretty sick this week, but he's getting better. I'm grateful that when we get sick, we usually get better fast. We've found a bunch of awesome investigators. They all just seem like they have a problem with the Sabath day so we're trying to focus in really hard on it. It just seems like they will just have to leave their jobs and find new ones. I truly know the Lord blesses us when we do what he tells us to, and the bigger sacrifices bring bigger blessings. So if you truly want to receive more and bigger blessings from the Lord, you truly need to make bigger sacrafices in His behalf. That's the way you can truly show that you love Him and are thankful for all that He has given you. We had the craziest Monday last week. We went to the city of Santa Cruz. There were a bunch of tourists and people from different countries. We talked with a guy from Colorado, a guy from Norland who barely could speak Spanish, but he could speak English. We heard this girl sing in English who got on the micro(little bus) to sing for pesos. haha. And this sister missionary who is here for the educational fund for all of Bolivia. It was pretty crazy but really cool. This week there is a Cambios too. I'm pretty excited to see what is going to happen. I'm pretty sure I will still stay here in La Merced. I am excited this week to get out and work with our investigators and find a few more who are prepared for the gospel. I hope this week is full of great experiences for you guys and that you enjoy them. Read your Scriptures and pray more. It will make you happier and your week will be the best one of the year.  Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.....March 12, 2012

Hola familia, This week was a pretty good week. Fernando is really ready for his baptism Saturday. It's going to be awesome. Something really cool happened this week too. Carmelo was going to have to go to work Sunday and they really need the money too, but Saturday at the end of the night, he told us yes, I'm gonna go to church tomorrow. It's way awesome how he is so willing to go to church and leave behind work even when he knows he can't make money going to church. This family will probably be the most loyal family to the church and to the Savior than any of the converts that I've been blessed to bring into the gospel with my comp. I also heard some good news from an Elder who worked in my first area his last Cambio. He told me that Ricardo and Jampier are both working on going on a mission and they are going out with the missionaries to do visits. I am so grateful to be able to help those who can go out and serve missions and also be able to bring to pass the salvation of many souls. It's pretty crazy how we will never be able to see the true effect that we  have on people when we serve the Lord and them at the same time. Every month that passes, I see more blessings that come from serving faithfully in the Lord's work. I have seen so many trials come to people and they are so depressed and sad but its crazy how all the hardest trials seem to go away with time. You just truly have to be patient and keep enduring and everything always ends up back to normal. We had some good lessons this week and we have found some great people. We're teaching this sixteen year old girl who has gone to church twice and seems to love the church. Also this 40 year old guy named Javier who is an incredible investigator, he just can't seem to get to church. But this week we will hit him strong with a good Sabbath day lesson, haha. Yesterday we had a cool Stake conference for all of Bolivia. It was in their stake center and Elder Holland gave a talk by satelite. He started off in Spanish and he was pretty bad with his accent. He even admitted it was bad, so he decided to let the translater do his job haha. But he ended in Spanish with his testimony. It was so strong and the spirit was burning very strongly. It's weird how I feel the spirit stronger in Spanish now than I do in English. I truly have realized my testimonio has grown so strong. Every time I hear a scripture recited that I use when I teach by the speakers, the spirit burns so strong. It's pretty crazy how faith turns from what you believe into what you know. But something pretty funny happened while we were in the primary. My comp was under a ceiling fan and one of the kids said "levante la mano (lift up your hand) haha. The kid wanted to see him get his hand hit by the ceiling fan. There is some funny stuff that happens here. Well things are going great with the work and the blessings are truly coming becaise of hardwork . I hope you guys have an amazing week, and April conference is soon!   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.......March 5, 2012

Hola familia. Things went really good this week. Carmelo received the priesthood yesterday and we had a couple of new investigators in church yesterday. Marcos is doing awesome. He turned down an invitation to play soccer on a cool field and go to church. He's still excited for his baptism. Alejandro is also doing good and he just promised to stop drinking coffee even though he loves it and drinks it every night.  My comp and I are starting to work really good together and we're developing a lot of unity. We're really good friends and we have a lot in common, so it makes things great working together. The zone was really blessed last month in February. We were priviledged to baptize a lot of people. We are trying to do all we can to continue helping out our zone, and this month looks like we will do pretty well too. The little girl of the parents Carmelo and Catia that we baptized, was in the hospital with bronchitis. The doctor said she was going to be in the hospital for at least a month. They were suffering financially so they were so depressed and didn't know what to do. It was so sad. But we got permission to go and visit her. She told us the night before when everything was really hectic, that Carmelo said we were going to pray together. She was surprised he suggested that. They knelt down together and he offered a prayer, and afterwards, he said "Valeria is going to be fine tomorrow". Catia asked "how do you know that?" he said, "I just know, I can feel it." I find it so amazing how the holy ghost can reveal to us that everything is going to be ok and that the Lord is preparing the way before us. I love having that same feeling of peace that our Heavenly Father is preparing the investigators that we have. I've also been thinking a lot about how many of the strong converts that we have, are going through so many trials. Especially here in plan 3000. I have truly come to realize how important it is to suffer. Especially for those who are strong and those who our Savior truly trusts to carry out His work. It's how the Lord makes us stronger. I know that all of the converts here share a big importance in the work for the future. All of those who the Lord wants to help in his work have gone or will go through strong trials to become stronger and to be come what He knows they can become. I truly know that all of the trials that I have had and all the hard things I've gone through have all been put in my life because my Savior loves me and knows who I can become. I'm thankful for who I am and all the things I have gone through to become a better missionary. The harder the trials are that we go through just shows us how strong the Lord knows we can become. Every strong person in the gospel has been through difficult trials and I'm pretty sure that the strongest have gone through the hardest. At first I couldn't understand how so many people could suffer so much while being faithful followers in the church. I'm so happy now. I truly know it's because the Lord wants to make them happier and stronger. But to get there, they are going to need to go through difficult trials. The church is obviously true. It's so amazing how it is unmistakably the church the Savior organized and established when He came here. It becomes so much more real every day. I know I am serving in His work. If you want a stronger testimony, all you need to do is serve more in his kingdom and you will gain seven fold. I am glad to be guided by the Lord to those he is preparing. I know happiness can be recieved when working at His side. I Love you guys so much!  Thanks for your prayers.  Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter......2/27/2012

Hola Familia, Things went fantastic this week with the baptisms. Carmelo Catia and Cristhian were all baptized and confirmed. They were also very happy to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints (the only true church). I have never been able to baptize a family that pretty much says everything that a missionary loves to hear. It's fantastic! They both told us that they felt amazing when they were baptized and also when the were confirmed. But it's really sad how things are going so rough for them. They have had so many trials and dificulties, yet they're staying so strong and firm in the church even though these problems came when they started listening to our message. They are struggling so much with money and Carmelo is still sick and so two days before their baptisms they really were down and sad about things. We offered to give them blessings. One of health (I don't know if it's called that) and one of comfort. I was able to give Catia hers and Elder Hansen gave Carmelos. The spirit was so strong that everyone was silent and just enjoying how powerful and peaceful the atmosphere was. It was truly awesome! Catie explained that she felt some warmth that she had never felt before move throughout her body, and Carmelo just smiled and said he just can't explain what he feels. They are truly an awesome family. They wanted to go with us to the baptism even though we needed to go an hour early to set up. But they were with us and we had a great time too. It's so sad that they are really having some tough times. Their 4 year old daughter is now in the hospital and they say she will be there for a month with bronchitis. They are really sad, but I just know that things will go good and that she will get better. We pray that they will. We are going to be able to baptize their son the 10th of March. He's told us like four times that he is excited for that date, and that he is excited that he will be passing the sacrament too. I'm so thankful that the Lord trusted in me and my companion and helped us bring this family into the gospel. I'm excited to find another family that we can help as well. Have an awesome week.   Love, Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter....Feb. 13, 2012

Hola Familia, This week was pretty great! We had a good time but we also had a lot of crazy things happen with the zone. We were doing a lot to get the Elders to their new areas. We had half of the zone leave to new areas. So we had a fantastic Thursday going to the airport and sending missionaries off. We had 2 go to Beni and one to Yucuiba (that's close to Argentina). Flights got canceled and moved so we went to the airport like 4 times, but everything was finally done by Saturday. But I'm excited to be here as a zone leader. We have great elders that are working hard and the blessings are showing. The two district leaders in our zone are pretty experienced. One was a Zone leader for a whole year and leaves in May, and the other was the assistant to the President 3 months ago. They were also one of my zone leaders at one point in Riberalta. So things are going really good with them. They are way excited to work before they go home. Our awesome family went to church again. It was awesome. The mom wants to be a teacher or leader in the church too haha. Her husband is always ready and willing to go to church. He is so receptive to the holy ghost. It's pretty crazy. We had a pretty special lesson with them on Saturday. They had sent there kids to their grandparents because they were so stressed out with money problems because the husband was getting sick and they had to pay rent, utilities, and medical bills, so they were really stressed. We planned to teach them the word of wisdom but we decided to teach them about the Atonement and how much their Father in Heaven loves them. He truly wants to help them out with the trials that they are going through. I explained to them the story of the "current bush" by president Brown. (the one that you love dad", and I told them that they will have to suffer in life so that they can become stronger. Sometimes we have trials in life that we cannot understand, and it doesn't seem that we deserve them. Even though it looks like things won't get better our Heavenly Father has all the power to makes things better. We truly need to kneel down and ask Him for the strength and comfort to get through these hard times. Just as he said in D&C, your trials will only be for a brief moment, but if you endure it well, I will exalt you on high. Our Heavenly Father will never truly let you suffer. You are his children and He loves you. Everything you suffer through will be for your good if you stay loyal to Him. The mom couldn't stop crying. After we taught our lesson, we asked if we could kneel down at their bedside and pray together asking God for comfort, faith, and the strength to get through these hard times. This family is truly special and we can't wait to help them make a covenant with our Heavenly Father through baptism. Thanks for all of your prayers and fasting.  It truly helped me. I'm doing great and I'm excited to keep on working in the mission. Have an awesome week!    love,  Elder Christoffersen

Camron's letter.... 2/6/2012

Hola familia, First of all, thanks so much for the fasts that you guys did
because I honestly don't have back pain. The doctor said I was for sure
going to need surgery. I also had dengue again! So I was not very happy.
Worst of all, thinking I was gonna be going home because when there
is a major surgery you go home without exceptions. But I don't know
how, but every day, more and more, my back pain started going away. 

I had a feeling you guys were praying for me at home because the doctor
told me "your pain isn't going to go away until you get that surgery
done." But I am feeling way good and I'm so excited starting off again
with the service. Prayer is real and so is fasting! Thanks so much for
your faith with works. They brought me a miracle. Speaking of miracles we
have been able to be a part of a few. The amazing family that we were
blessed to be guided to had really a lot of miracles in getting them
to the church. The mom almost stopped listening to us three or four
times. But because she showed her faith through letting us teach them
and going to the church, God fulfilled his promises and they recieved a
witness that these things are true. Like she was told, we are racist
and there is always a gringo with someone who has darkened skin. My last
comp, Elder Frost was really tan, so she believed the person. But then
cambio emergencia, and Elder Hansen comes and he is as white or whiter
than me. So that helped her to believe them again. She came to
church and saw a member who got in a fight with her and almost went
home because she was there. Then Elder Hansen and I looked and saw
her right before she left, so she stayed. She told us if we hadn't seen
her she would have just left. And last of all in the church she was
thinking "If my kids really like their classes, and if my husband
does too, maybe I will stay." They all said they loved it and her      

husband said "this is where I'm staying." He had never gone to
church before. It was so cool. The dad is awesome! He's never told us
he had doubts. He just always tells us that he has feelings he's never
felt before. "I don't know how to explain these feelings that I am
having." He is truly fantastic. I love being able to teach this family.
They even invited us to eat with them after church. We went and
they made me my favorite food here, el Piquemachu mmmmmm! I took a
picture too.  They invited her dad who was way against Mormons. But
we talked with him and he said to the mom, "get baptized" and told her he
was just really surprised that Carmelo actually went to church, cause he
hadn't and wouldn't go for 10 years or so they had been married. After
my comp and I left their home, we both said the church is true
It's so great how powerful this work is, and God is a part of it! This is
so awesome wooooooooooooooo! haha. It was a good day. We also had the dad
come from the Romero family and he told us that his wife an kids were
going to come but they didn't make it. But he said he enjoyed church and
I'm sure we will be able to help their family come too next week. 
We had another investigator come who's wife is paralized over half of
her body. He said he liked church also, so maybe we will be able to get
his family to come to church too. The work is moving on it's rolling
like a rock cut out from the mountain side. A Couple funny notes.. an
elder on the internet here is blasting church music with all the
computer game music playing and it's pretty funny. It's loud but awesome.
The other thing is that we taught some new converts yesterday and the
dad and his family were members of a church that is almost as
abominable as the Catholic church. It's like the second biggest here. But 

he tells how he notices every day how blind all the other churches
are and we could hear this rock music way loud from a rented stadium

where they were holding some church. The dad said that just like
this church it's so rediculous how loud they play the music. It's like
they think God is deaf and can't hear so well, haha. It was so funny
because he said it so seriously too, haha. But I'm excited for this
week. Cambios are Wednesday and our zone is working so hard, so I hope
they don't change too many. But whatever happens, we will continue to
work hard. We are truly being blessed as a zone and I hope we stay
sufficiently humble so the blessings continue to flow. Thanks so much
again for all you do.    Love, Elder Christoffersen