A birth, a death, and a few birthdays.‏

Primero, ¡felicitaciones a mi prima Leslie y su nuevo bebe!

I was saddened to hear of the death of President Packer this week. He was a general authority for 50ish years and married for almost 70. He was a great example and teacher. I usually never appreciated his talks until I read them and really studied them. This week's quote is by him, "Some answers will come from reading the scriptures, and some from hearing speakers. And, occasionally, when it's important, some will come by very direct and powerful inspiration. The promptings will be clear and unmistakable." He will be greatly missed. The funeral services are on Friday. 

The first birthday this week was the 4th of July. And I have never celebrated so much and I'm in Mexico. The wonderful comedor workers gave us the lunch of our lives, with burgers BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, pie and ice cream, and a flag made out of watermelon, black berries, blueberries and coconut. We also got fully decked out in red white and blue. It was so fun. 

The next day was my mom's birthday. She is one of my biggest examples and my biggest supporter. I though a lot about her on Sunday. 

Finally today is the birthday of one of the elders in my district. We got one of our teachers to get us some balloons and streamers and we decorated the room. We also got him a new tie from the tienda. Later we are going to have a small party with a few of our teachers. It's been a fun day. 

Not really knowing Spanish in Mexico can lead to some interesting experiences, even in the CCM. Mostly this shows up in lessons. For example Christ did not Atone for our pescados (fishes) but for our pecados (sins). God does not want the ladies for you (muejeres) but the best  (mejor). And most important of all, we are not embarazada (pregnant) because we can't speak Spanish but avergonzado (embarrassed). The funniest moment perhaps was when we found out that for two weeks we had been washing our clothes with fabric softener not soap. That has now been fixed and surprisingly enough our clothes actually feel clean again. The elders thought it was hilarious. 

I hope this e-mail finds all of you well. As always the invitation is open for you to write me letters or e-mails or whatever. I'll even take smoke signals. Whatever works for you. 

Nos vemos. 

Hermana Christensen/Anna

The pictures this week are my zone and my district in our 4th of July splendor. Yes that is a Mexican flag in the background.