Chris is leaving for Africa!  Oh, it the time passed soooooooooooo fast.  I am nervous, excited, nervous, thrilled for him. He flies out of Salt Lake City International Airport Monday, September 10, 2012.  He will then travel for a couple days, arriving in Maputo, Mozambique, on September 12, 2012.


Let's hope and pray he likes airplane travel.  Having never been on an airplane before, the Mama is just a bit nervous about him being on one.  He will be fine.






Of course, he would love a ride on this plane.  

Perhaps this one.    

Yes!!!  The ultimate ride. Space, the Final Frontier.   

Africa feels like the final frontier to the Mama today.

Prayers for the pilots and their staff would be appreciated.You know, prayers for good sleep, alert minds, and cooperation aboard would all be wonderful.

Today we are off to deliver one final package of necessities and pictures to the Elder.  He has to downsize to one suitcase, a carry on, and a backpack.  Apparently in Mozambique they are only allowed to travel with one large suitcase.  It will be quite a challenge to consolidate stuff and to decide what to leave.  Here is a shout out to Post Mart in our town. They not only deliver packages daily to the MTC for a mere $2.00, they also provide a local return service from the MTC for free.  The extra piece of luggage and it's contents will be coming back to us via Post Mart.  We just have to go to their store and pick it up.  What a blessing.

Happy day to you.
Signing off for now,
The Mama

I just want to tell everyone I'm sorry for the lack of updating this blog lately.  I have been reluctant to share all of Chris's emails.  No reason other than I'm feeling a bit stingy.  Just wanting to sit and savor his emails all to ourselves and enjoy the part of him we get each week.  We have been feeling a bit vulnerable and pulling in tighter to one another as a family.  

Without further ado, I happily share this week's email with you.  He is happy and doing well.  Only about 2 weeks and he heads off to Africa.

Dear Family,

So...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

FLIGHT PLANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Whoop!

So, I am sending you a copy in the mail, but I'll give you something here.
Salt lake to Fort worth Texas. Texas to London Heathrow. London to Johannesburg. And, finally, Johannesburg to Maputo.
Four flights. The longest one, from dallas to london, is 4:55 pm the 10th to 7:50 am the 11th. Do the math. Then there's the 12 hour one from london to africa. That doesn't even mention the other two flights and layovers...like the 12 hour layover in London. So...I've got some time on my hands when I get there.
And, then we found the little peice of paper about the Africa airways. So, one peice of checked luggage, but now only 44 lbs allowed. Yes I can have a carry-on but it can only be 15 lbs. The backpack? I'm pretty sure they allow one. It didn't specifically say. Oh, when you get the peice of paper it says Cape town on top...that means that all that applies to me is the luggage and airline stuff not the other stuff.

So there's the gist, I'm sending the copy today of the actual itinerary.

So, starting from the top of you email:
No problem. I love getting mail in any form. The dearelders or email. I logged in and there you were! Horray!
A PACKAGE! Whoomp! I feel like a celebrity. I don't have it yet, but I can hardly wait for mail time after lunch.
My brothers are the best brothers in the entire universe. I LOVE YOU GUYS! You would give up your own MP3 players?! For mean old Chris?! I'm honored. Whatever you send, I will love it.

Speakers? Don't send anything special. They need to be small and light. And DO NOT spend tons of money. Last thing I want is you spending loads of cash on me when I will just A. go to africa with it. B. Send it back and tell you to buy yarn or school supplies. C. Squeeze it into a back pack. D. Love you no matter what you do because you are so awesome to take time out of your day to do this for me!

Quick experience.
So I was getting my itinerary copied to send to you and the girl there asked me how to say "Thanks for your friendship" in portuguese. So, I said "Obrigado por sua..." then I didn't know the word for friendship. So I went to my pocket dictionary. But I couldn't find it........until my comp said "Friendship is spelled 'f-r-i-e...' not 'f-r-e-n-d..." Yup. I have forgotten how to speak and write english even before becoming fluent in portuguese. YAY! I consider that a good sign.

Tell, Dad I feel his pain. I can't wait until he's done. I am so sad. I will miss my own father's graduation! WHY?! POR QUE!?!?! Eu morreria.

I think that I heard that every member of my zone has said at least one thing about that game. There are Utes here and some Cougars. Most of them expressed a wish to go. I'm excited for Dad and Nate though! They will LOVE it!

How is Josh's grammer anyway?

Matt babysitting. Weird. He is getting so old. Nuff said.

YAY! Go hair! That stuff is fun to hear about.
Well, I found out that my hair will not part if it is crazy short. This last Sunday we put tons of crap in it and it barely made it(it was parts and paislies[ties] day). Even then, the cowlick tried to take over.

Enjoy that party. Tell Luke happy birthday for me!

MR. SUMMERS LEFT?! NOOO! Crud. Well, good on Nate for not spending a bijillion dollars on mallets. I am so happy for him. I loved dance. I can just see him now. Red cape, mustache, pretty girl in long red dress just a Paso Dobleing up the floor. I think he would fit well in Paso Doble.(yes, I know I can't spell) And being swamped with stuff you love certainly is the best happiness and stress one can have. GO NATE!

Aha! An assignment for personal scripture study? I'll do my best.

I can't wait for all those pictures. I miss you guys. It's weird. I have lived my whole life almost always with at least one member of my family within speaking distance. Now, I don't have that. I love you all. I'm not coming home-you couldn't pay me enough-but I love and miss and pray for you every day.

Yup, postmart is great. I'll get it there with about...oh...HALF of what I brought. That's the one thing I'm worried about when it comes to packing.

Finally, no, I cannot believe I am actually going to Africa in two weeks. I think I'll get to Johanessburg, step out, then it'll hit me. Then I'll step out at Maputo and the fact that I will be living there for two years will hit me. Yup...It is nuts. I got a little of it with the flight plans, but the reality will hit me like a brick wall when I actually get there. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... excited! One week is too long! Augh. And too short. AUGH!

Well, I'm not sure what else I could say. Oh, my mission pres said I will get that letter telling me more of what to bring soon. Hopefully before wednesday. I hoped it would be in my email today, but no dice. We'll see what happens. It'll all work out in the end.

Well, I have to stop, my computer is mad at me.
Love you more than toilet paper(quote from someone "Don't shake Mozambique people with the left hand...they don't have toilet paper." which I hope is false.)


Elder Christopher Andre Wartena

There you have it.  Another week in the life of a very happy missionary.

Signing off for now,

The Mama

Ola minha familia. Este computador nao tem sutalk marks. Ok, well, that last sentence has a few english words, but I don't know how to say marks in portuguese. sutalk=accent. whether I spelled it right or not, whatever.

Well, let's get down to buisness(to defeat the huns...did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?[I think he should be grateful for daughters. just like in missionary work, they do a great job]).

first off. Mom, I have to apologize. I have not yet emailed my mission pres. I will today. I'll be leaving my shampoo and conditioner and soap(taking my bug spray though, and sunscreen). Josh, don't be offended, but my preach my gospel cover and hinos cover will stay(I need the weight and they probably will be stolen in africa). I am not sure whether I should take bedsheets. I will try to fit one set, but I know both will not fit. I think I will be needing a backpack afterall. The small waterpack? I don't know. It all depends on what'll fit and how heavy the suitcase is. anything I leave behind, though, will be useful for you guys or you can save.
Mom, I was a kidding with the whole tree hiding thing. I'll find out who I need to talk to and figure out how to get you my suitcase. Also(and sorry this isn't very organized, I really wish I had more time) I might be leaving some medicines depending on what pres says. I don't really want to leave anything behind, but I can't fit it within the one suitcase, fifty lbs limit.

So, to wrap up:
1 I will figure out how to get you my extra stuff.
2 I have a few things in mind to leave and will email pres today with some Qs.
3 I would love my backpack. Another peice of luggage that the airlines don't check for weight is great. It means more stuff I can take. Also. The small pack is nice, but a big packmight come in handy in africa.
4 I might need compression bags to fit all my clothes in. We'll see.

Alright. so I have something for you guys.
The Army of helamam usually goes: we will be the lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth.
But here, they sing: We are now the Lord's missionaries to bring the world his truth.
Thought you'd enjoy knowing that. i made me smile.

The I love you necklace, mom, is great. I love it and everyone who sees it tells me that you are awesome and they like it.

I forgot to tell you. Last sunday, we were in our classroom having a district meeting and all of a sudden the fire alarms go off. We all thought it was a poorly planned drill, but we evacuated. It wasn't until the three firetrucks pulled in and ran in with full gear that i remembered I left my preach my gospel and hinos covers inside. Josh, I'm sorry I left them, they're fine, but I was feeling pretty stupid at that moment. Long story short, no fire, just a stupid light bulb exploded making smoke.

A normal day in the CTM huh? hm...well every day is a little different. every day we have class for six hours (not all at once-in three hour blocks). Se have gym and study time is scattered all over. We teach 1-2 investigators a day(our teachers posing as investigators and sometimes we get to play investigator for each other[my character is named Joshua, is Athiest, and doesn't really care to hear the missionaries. he only is there because his roomate Elder Proksch/John let them in while he was studying]) every day we have three meals. I eat a salad at every meal and I try not to drink soda. Mom, I eat veggies and fruits a plenty. Plus, I have gained 7 lbs.  At gym I have been trying to do push ups and pull ups and run in addition to playing other ballgames(a master at foursquare...;p) [Josh, maybe the Olympics should include foursquare. I can just see the chinese going crazy all over the court-hehe.)

If you want to feel the spirit and learn a bit about africa, on lds.org, there is a few sections about elder holland visiting africa. There's three clips(that made us ansy to go) that are great.

Don't worry too much about school, Mom, you'll do great. And
Ben! I love you bud. I miss you miss you miss you too! Enjoy swimming and shots.

Ok, leave me in the dark, but four new tires was enough to spark my companion's interest as to what happened. Tell grandpa happy birthday for me! And I love him.

I'm going to share part of Elder Evan's favorite quote: "Ima show YOU how great I am! I'm so bad, I murdered a rock; Injured a stone; hospitalized a brick. I'm so bad I make medicine sick." -by Muhamad Ali

well, my time is up. I haven't said a quarter of what I'd like to say, and I need to email pres.

Love your son/brother missionary,
Elder Captain Christopher America Wartena

Week 4
At least, if I have counted right, it's week four.

Oh, bad thing to do here at the MTC-Watch the videos on the LDS website about Africa. Elder Holland went there and in the videos he testifies of the greatness of the African people. Also, the conversion stories made me jealous of Elders Going and Rameka who left for Mozambique this week.

Anyhow. How's life at home? I haven't heard much. Dad sent me a letter, but I forgot it back at the resedence(sorry).

So...they wait for me to leave, then they do a water sport in youth conference? Kidding, but it sounds like a ton of fun.

Josh, I love your names in the DearElders. You will receive a letter this week from Elder Captain America.

Josh is probably shaking his head at my stupidity...and grammer...and spelling. Oh, well, I just want to make sure you guys know I love you.

Psh, I'm writing like I don't even know you. What’s wrong with me?

So, you all probably want to know what's going on over here. Um...Portuguese is getting easier-I'm not very confident in the language, but it's getting there. My comp. is great. He has a hard time staying focused on one task, but he is confident in what he does which is one thing I am not. We are working on figuring out how to teach together. He likes to "wing it" in lessons and I tend to think that we must plan, you know, at least some for our (hence the term OUR) lessons. I can see why he does it though-both of us are not used to teaching WITH someone else. It's hard. If one missionary wants to go one direction out of the blue the other missionary will get lost, especially if it's in Portuguese.

The food here is ok. I mean, it tastes pretty good, but like I said in my last letter, it will never top Mom's cooking. And...it makes all the Elders REALLY gassy. Not me so much, but everyone else complains and jokes about cutting the cheese all-day-long (not a very pleasant smell).

One thing I want to say is Thank You Mom and Dad for raising me the way you did. I mean, everyone, and I mean everyone I have ever met, knows my standards.

Anyway. The stupid timer is at thirty seconds, so I'd better finish.

I love you all more that ice cream (speaking of which, I've kinda gotten sick of candy and sweets).

Your son/brother/missionary,
Elder Wartena

P.S. Everyone hug everyone for me!

There were a few more things in the letter just for our family.  Hope you enjoy hearing about the fun and growth.

Signing off for now,
The Mama

Here it is, the letter from July 27th.  Just one of the best parts of my week each week.

So I officially hate this computer. The stupid thing wouldn't take my LDS mail account user name. Then, I found out that it isn't my LDS account user name it wanted. It wanted my gmail account user name & STUPID COMPUTER LIED TO ME! AND I LOST FIVE PRECIOUS MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AG!

Entou, tempo por real new. I am now speaking Portuglish. Portuguese, not quite, but really slow portuglish, yes. It started coming easier once I figured out that this mission is not for me, it's for the Lord and the people I will be teaching.

AH! After I got over the shocks of:
1-moving (never have in recent memory)
2-being with someone 25/7 and everyone expecting you to be best friends (wasn't hard, but I did have to get used to the idea)
3-That even though it is all you can eat at every meal, you shouldn't do it at every meal, especially Sunday ice cream bar.

I hope you got my letter. I kind of sent a list of things I'd like. Send me a DearElder this week telling me what you think. It's not that I MUST HAVE THEM, but I would really like to have what's on the list. Hopefully you have it so you know what I'm talking about.

One thing in the letter though I want to post here. I told you my favorite scripture (for my plaque) one verse off. I said Alma 36:20-21. But it really was 21-22. I wanted to include the part about Alma seeing the concourses of angels and desiring to be there. If you already posted it, that's fine, if not, please change it.

All right, on to other things.

BEN! I love you bud! I love the little notes you've given me! I'm missing your smiling face. Give Mom a kiss right now for me!

Josh, Josh, Josh. I know you only tell me the Dark Knight sucked because you don't want me to get trunky. Don't worry. I won't get trunky over a movie. I am here and I won't miss those things. HAH! Take that Satan! I falcon punched him in the face! Hm. ps. how's the girl hunt?

Nate! I miss you so much. I think I have talked about you the most to my comp. I've told him how people think we're twins (you being older), and how you are my very best bud. Whoever gets you as a comp is a lucky fellow. How are your 6:30 am runs? How's mission prep? Tell the Cooks I said hi and THANK YOU SO MUCH for all they taught me.

Stupid timer is so distracting. 9 minutes left. 8 minutes left. Oh! 30 minutes to write is too short! I have too much to say.

Covey died! Dang. No I didn't hear about that. I'm gonna miss him. I didn't know him, but you got so much of his planning stuff I feel like I did.

Good news. I got a water bottle. Found out that if I carry a waterbottle around, I drink more. I had a nasty headache until I started carrying it around with me.

HEY JO! Do you miss me? How's school? Give Mom a hug for me, ok?

Matt...like I said in my letter...STOP GROWING you're are going to start banging your head on this if you don't, and I don't want you to get brain damage. And your feet!? Psh, ol' little foot over here isn't jelous, nope, not a bit. I'll just chill in my size 9 shoes and laugh! HAH! not jelous at all..................Give Mom another hug.

Three minutes! bah!

DAD! I love you so much. Thanks for the letter. The advice on using the spirit as a thermometer is great. I've started trying it. The spirit was so strong in the temple today. I loved it!

Tell Aunty Kari I loved the package and the tie is fantastic. I've had Elders complement it.

Stupid clock. one minute.

Oh, cool fact, one of our investigators is name Rafiel. Cool huh! I'm teaching a ninja turtle! Kidding, but brothers'll enjoy that one.

Well, there goes the clock. I've got to finish up. Next time I'll get the full 30 minutes.

Your Missionary Son/brother
Elder Wartena

PS. Everyone give each other hugs for me!

Signing off for now,

The Mama

Week #2 -- Please use Dearelder.com

Here we are in the middle of week #2.  We are truly enjoying all the mail from our missionary.  It is fun to get to know your son in a correspondence relationship.  Enjoy the email.

OH! It's my Mom! I love you!

So firstly, I have to get this out of the way. The very best way to send me correspondence in the MTC is DearElder.com. How it works is you make an account, log in, write your letter to me, and it is sent hard paper copy to me that day! I love your emails, love em', but the problem is I only have thirty minutes on here a week; so reading the emails and then writing to you takes a lot more time. If I had a hard copy, I could read them whenever I wanted, not just p-day, then on p-day I could concentrate on writing a kick butt email. So, I'm not sure if it costs anything, I don't think it does, but it would be great, at least in the MTC, if you would use DearElder.com. I know it works. There are two elders in my district, Elder Peckam-sitting next to me, and Elder Evans, who get so many letters because everyone writes them via DearElder.com.

I'm not trying to be a salesman, though. Just check it out.

So, I sent you I think three paper letters this past week. Did you get them? If not, maybe I can figure out what's wrong.

Oh! Nate! I love you! I miss you too. By the way, where's the picts of our room I asked for? Did you stick with the bunk bed? Or go your separate ways? Oh, give mom a big hug right now for me.

So, I'll be sending my 4 GB card soon (I forgot to empty it before I left, so there's some other random pictures on there).

Tell Josh that I admire his language abilities. My feelings on the language right now is HOW THE CRAP! Oh, struggling. I'm drowning in all the "sh"s. Portuguese love the s-h sound. Also, what the c with the sguiggle below? ç, or the ~ over the a. Ah, yes, accent marks are fun. But, I'll get it, somehow, right now it's only week one.

Oh, there's an Elder in my district, actually one of my roomates, who is a character. He goes to mealtimes and mixes the drinks to makes the oddest concoctions. He layers the colors (HOW THE HAY!) or he lets it sit and it thickens into a pudding-like consistency. He has this book of MTC drink recipes that some guy five missions ago started. Also, he is the prank lord. Right now he and Elder Baldwin are in a little alarm clock war. 

I've only been pranked twice, luckily. First, Baldwin snuck a spoon into my pillow case-which is fine, just having fun. But the second time, someone "crumbed" my bed. PSH! Mean. I was pretty upset. Oh, well. I got over it and changed my sheets.

So, in summary, I am having a good time, a very very hard one, but still happy. My companion is named Elder Proksch, great guy from Vegas-he loves soccer at gym time. My district consists of Elder Proksch and I, Elder Egbert and Staples, and Elder Evans and Peckam. My comp is district leader, which pretty much means we pick up the mail.

I love you all and treasure each letter. I'm going to try to attach a few pictures.
Elder Chris Andre Wartena

P.S. I have detergent, but a package would be welcomed with open arms. Maybe, some ties...hint. But I don't care what you send, I love anything from home.

P.P.S. These computers won't even recognize my USB drive, sorry, no pictures till you get my card-though I will Flickr in Africa if I can.

P.P.P.S. I can write you hard letters during the week. So you'll get some, just let me know if you get them.

P.P.P.P.S. (insane I know) My teacher is Sister Steinbeigle. She studies at BYU. Tell Josh good luck.
XOXOXOXOXOXO

Isn't it just awesome?! I love it. Another week, another email, a very happy family.

Signing off for now,
The Mama

Dear Loved Ones
Here it is. The first missionary email from Elder Chris Wartena.

I want to be a missionary now. On his way to be set apart.


Pictured here with his first official missionary companion, Dad.


Saying good bye at the MTC. That's the gang.


One last family picture before we drive him across the street to the MTC and drop him off.
Minha familia!

Here I am in the MTC!
Rather, I am in the CTM in Portuguese.
So, today (saturday) is kind of a half p-day to do laundry and write. Our p-day from now on is Friday, so next Friday you should get another email. You should be getting a short letter from me that I wrote my first day here. I'm sorry if it's a little short, but basically they told us to write you and then left us no time to do so except right before bed. And when you write right before bed you run out of time.

OH! Brother Wilkey was awesome. He was all in my face the first day like poparazi. All the Elders around me were looking at me with a big questioning look on their faces; and what did Wilkey tell them? "Oh, he's Mitt Romney's son." Just matter of fact. You know, like I normally am swarmed by photographers and such.
No, but the first class was hard. Again, with brother Wilkey snapping away, I couldn't concentrate real well on the lesson. Don't get me wrong, it was great fun to be a celebraty for the day, but a little distracting. I have decided not to be a famous movie star for those reasons.

Ask Josh to copy edit this, I want to know if I break any records for bad grammer. hehe.

Dad, the head spinning thing is just the beginning. First, they sit you down and Sister Steinbeiegle doesn't say a lick of English(she knows it, she just won't speak it) and then on your second day they tell you that you are now going to teach an investigator the next day in Portuguese. AAAHH! And every other Elder in my room knows some Spanish, so they are miles ahead of me.

Speaking of other Elders, my companheiro's nome is Elder Proksch-pronounced prox. I am in a district of six Elders: Elders Staples, Evans, Peckam, Proksch, and Egbert. Staples and Egbert are going to Portugal and the rest are Mozambique. In fact, in the entire CTM there is only six mozambique missionaries: those is my district and our Zone Leaders, Elder Going and Rameka.

Criminy, my laundry just finished washing.

I'm back, it's in the dryer now.

The investigator I mentioned is Romario. We are teaching him again today. Elder Proksch and I want to teach him about the restoration-yesterday we didn't really give him the background, it was kind of confusing with the language barrier. OH! The biggest frustration here is the language barrier. I want to shout out to Romario what I know and what I want him to know; I want to be able to listen to him and know what he needs. Yesterday, we spent five minutes with him just trying to tell us that the wind turned a page and could we show him where the scripture was again.

There's a timer in the right hand corner of the screen that just told me I have five minutes left. It's kind of distracting. We only get thirty minutes a p-day to write you.

Ug, I feel like I'm just spouting and not really saying anything to you. Oh, mom, I love the necklace. I asked the Leaders if I could wear it (the white bible say no necklaces) and they told me "Yes!"

Psh, there is so much to say, but so little time. hehe. I love little phrases that get overused like that one.

Josh, you were so right about the detergent. 50 cents every single wash! NO! That might be cheap outside o the CTM, but in here I have a small allowance of six bucks a week and my small wallet fund.

Crud, times up.
Love you all!
Elder Wartena


That first email or letter is such a joy to receive.

Let me explain what Chris mentioned about being followed around and all the picture taking on his first day. Our home teacher is a photographer for BYU. He was asked to document in photographs a missionary on his first day at the MTC. As I understand it, the day assigned to do this just happened to be the day Chris was entering the MTC. What luck! He asked for our permission to do so, and we gave him a resounding, "Yes!"

SO ... as we dropped our son off, our home teacher began to follow him around snapping picture after picture for a number of hours. We were allowed to see some of these pictures, and it was extremely fun to be a "fly on the wall" of the MTC for a bit. We can not share these pictures. We can not print any of them--even for ourselves. Please don't ask.

Just know that he is beyond excited to finally be serving a mission for the Lord. About 9 weeks in the Provo MTC, and then off to Mozambique, Africa. We'll keep you posted each week.


I just couldn't resist sharing this pic. It was their favorite, and it accurately depicts most days at our house.

Signing off for now,
The Mama