Elder Owen Christensen... My Testimony

 I asked each of my sons as they were preparing to return home to reflect on their years of service as a  full-time LDS missionary.  I asked the same of my youngest and last missionary.  Here are the words of:

ELDER OWEN JAMES CHRISTENSEN

 For Mom, 

This last week of my mission has been a little crazy, we have had zone conferences all week so we didn't have too much time in the area. But it was very special being able to hear the last testimonies of the Elders. For the last 6 months I have always had the opportunity to hear the last testimonies of every missionary that was going home… But this time was different. Maybe because it was also my turn. I could see in the eyes of these missionaries that they had changed, I had seen all of them come to the mission and now seeing them leave I know they are not going back as the same people. 

I have had the same privilege to see the change in the lives of the people I have taught these two years. I have seen people that were completely ready to receive the gospel that had been completely prepared to make a covenant with their Heavenly Father. I have seen people that have fought with everything they have over the space of years finally able to enter into the waters of baptism. I have seen people come to the choice between following God or letting the natural man win, and I've seen examples of those who have chosen the latter. I have seen members come back to church, families preparing to be eternal, people finally accepting to be baptised after years. I have seen the hand of the Lord in their lives.

 

And I have seen it in mine.

That is the biggest change, the biggest miracle I have seen. I could sit here in this comfy chair writing for three days and not (be able) to describe all of the miracles I have seen, but the biggest is the change in my life. I know the difference between testimony and conversion. I have come to know my Savior, Jesus Christ. There are no words that can describe everything that the mission has meant to me, everything I've felt and seen. I will be forever grateful to my God for this chance to come to Argentina and serve Him and His children. I am changed, forever. I know God lives, He is real, He speaks to His children. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and He has saved and redeemed me. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the Lord chosen to restore His church in these last days, and I know that He still calls prophets and apostles today. 

These two years have been the best of my life, without doubt, without question. But I promise to you, myself and to God, that they won't stay the best two years forever. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and will be forever grateful for this experience that He has seen fit to give me. 

I love you Mom. Thank you for raising me well enough to get me on the mission, I can never repay that debt. 

• Elder Owen James Christensen 

PS. sorry i was so bad about the emails but futbol on p-day was important… 

The Boys come home... Elder Christensen stays

What is up my people? Coming at you live from BA Argentina. All the Boys are going home this week (see photo - "the boys" that Owen started his journey with all returned home on 09/16/25) so that's kinda wack I hope I don't die. (die = stop working hard through the end of mission) I honestly do not remember the last email that I sent... and I'm too lazy to go back and check, so if I repeat anything, my bad. I'm pretty sure only my mom reads these anyway. (I definitely do read and "try" to add punctuation and correct spelling errors for ease of reading... I never change content! That's ALL Elder O.) We went to go see the tabernacle choir for the 100 year aniversary of the church in South América. It was actually amazing to see them and we even go to go down and sing with them "llamados a servir." We got home super late but it was worth it. (It was actually amazing for us to watch and re-watch a couple glimpses of Elder O walking onto the stage and singing! See previous post for the write up and pics.) I literally can't write all of the miracles that I have seen everyday here, but trust me that they are happening. I'll share one: we had a friend come to church with her son who's a less active member, we met her in the church then passed by in the evening and put her on date for baptism for the 7th. Yesterday she was baptised 14 days after we first met her. I dont think I've every met a person so prepared by God to receive the Gospel. I got to play scum with the MTC Boys just like the good old days. I'm on the bulk and getting big... the free World better get ready for the GLOW UP. I'm loving the mission i've never enjoyed life more than I am right now. Know that the lord loves you and everything that happens in your life is for your salvation. Stay Frosty! - ELDER CHRISTENSEN

Tabernacle Choir visits Buenos Aires...

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ being preached in South America with two concerts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, 2025. These performances were the capstone of their celebration. The concerts featured cultural dances and songs from the region and paid tribute to the faith of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have helped share the message of Jesus Christ. Elder Quentin L. Cook, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, joined the Choir in Buenos Aires and enjoyed their musical testimony of Jesus Christ. “The Choir, through music, is striving to teach about Jesus Christ and His commandments,” said Elder Cook. “They did a wonderful job. It was absolutely amazing. I was so deeply touched.” “The world needs Jesus Christ. The world needs to know what He has done and to feel his love. Music can carry some of that message and can make people want to know more and grow closer to the divine,” said Cardús. For both concerts, missionaries serving in Buenos Aires came on stage to sing with the Choir. This was another way to express gratitude for the thousands that have helped share the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in South America. “Seeing [the missionaries] up there at the end — that brought tears to my eyes,” said Elder Cook. “Our message is very much about Christ and inviting others to come unto Christ and following His example, and I think we did that.”

One Year...

"You are on this council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master"

 How is it hanging my people of the free world? It is currently pday, we still grindin here in Cristiania B, Buenos Aires. It's very interesting, the area here is pretty rich so the people are not interested in hearing anything, we also found out that not only are there basically no active members in our area but there are just basically no members.  All of them have moved or are dead. But we're finding some good success.  We are working hard trying to re-activate some members, and one of them came to church yesterday! VAMOS!! 

It's starting to get really cold here, and one of our electric heaters broke. The ward got robbed they stole the computer and the printer and basically everything in the office over there, so that blows. 

We've got some good friends progressing! The brother of one of our recent converts wants to get baptized too, we're working on trying to re-activate their family. Then we have another one of our friends that we put on date for the 21st, keep her in your prayers. We´ve also been doing a lot of contacting, we´ve found some good people doing that. This Saturday we went to like a famer's market type deal and had a stand.  It was 6 missionaries and we did a ton of contacts and found some really good people. We´ve also been doing lots of service, its been pretty epic. Were painting houses, moving logs, doing some gardening.  A member even gave me a really cool coin. 

Okay, I want to talk really fast about how important it is to go to church. We sometimes think that it is just nice to go to the meeting and listen to the talks, but it's nothing really important like the temple or general conference... But, that's NOT TRUE at all. It's actually very interesting that the covenant of baptism is the only one that we renew, and we have the opportunity to do it every Sunday.  It goes to show that it must be really important!  That God wants us to always be thinking of this first covenant and keep working to follow him. So go read Mosiah 18, its epic. Also read the COME FOLLOW ME Lesson for the week.  I love you guys. Stay frosty, keep your covenants, go to church, go to the temple, stay frosty. 

-Elder Christensen 

"Your New Empire?"

 Yo wazzup my people. 

I am still chilling here in Argentina, Cristiania B, living the best life. Some stuff has happened these past 3 weeks. Like kind of a lot.  My comp went home.  He had some family stuff that he had to work out so he went back to Brazil, and I got put with the other 2 elders in the ward.  It was pretty tough to keep our friends going but we were doing a lot calls, a lot of messages.  So it was pretty cool to learn how to work better with technology. One of our friends had a baptism date but they didn't show up to do the interview but they brought their friends to church the next day but they thought the were still going to get baptised but we moved to the date for another day. So yeah a little bit of a stress roller coaster these last couple of days. We're still a work in progress, but keep Bianca in your prayers... 

Also we had transfers. As previously mentioned I am still kicking it here in Cristiania, I have received my first native Spanish speaking comp. He's from Peru, so that's epic. He's a goofy guy, but we're gonna be doing some good work here.  I was getting cold but the last 2 week it's been making some HEAT.  But it's finally starting to cool down again. 

Welp, that's what has been happening here. Go and read the Bible, but also do some research on the context. Stay frosty. Keep it real. Go to church. Go to the temple. Chau

Elder Christensen

"I Will Do What I Must" ... "You Will Try"

 Yo yo yo,  how is it hanging my fellow children of a living God?  I don't remember when I sent my last email but I'm here in Cristiania B, (Isidro Casanovo - with Elder Mendonca) the Dream of the mission. I made it out of the mantanaza but now I'm back. My comp is brasileño so I'm trying to learn a little Portuguese to flex on the haters.

This area was a little dead when I got here, but we're doing some good work, finding some good peoples and securing some good "fechas". (dates)  The bishop here is epic.  He looks like a thug, but he's like always helping us out and stuff.  It's getting really cold here now, but it's all good.

I'm sorry, I promise I'll try to get better at emails one day... but I love God and I love you guys.  Go to church, stay strong in your testimonies and stay frosty.

Tchau

-Elder Christensen