My Brother, Spider-Man (22 & 23)

Feb 9
4 min read

Hey!

I feel like each time I write these emails I have to reflect a lot more on how much time has passed. In some ways a lot has passed and in others it hasn’t. Either way though each week feels like a blur and it’s been harder to remember certain things. But anyway, let’s jump into what happened! (The past 2 weeks because I missed last week... Oops.)

Zone Conference

Zone conference happened and it was nice to see all of the other missionaries. Including the ones from the MTC. Although it seems all of the Elders from my district all got banished to all the areas down south. So, the only one I saw was Elder Faux. Speaking of which, this dude went up to me on the bus on the way to the church and asked if I could sing at zone conference as his companion stayed home because he was sick. So I got to sing at zone conference again! One thing I also realized is because I am the only American in the house we are living in, it was kind of weird seeing a bunch of Americans again. I also started to realize just how much I stand out here in Korea. I mean when we were sitting on the bus traveling to the church with maybe 7 other American dudes a lot of people were staring at us haha.

That’s another thing I wanted to point out. My blonde hair, blue eyes, and ridiculously white skin makes talking to people fairly easy. My companion, who is Philippino, has told me that Koreans just refuse to talk to him. We tested it out, and it went something like this. My companion would walk a little bit further in front of me and when someone would walk by he would say Hi to them and then if they ignored him I would say the same thing.

Well, he wasn't lying. Koreans straight up ignore him sometimes. Literally the first person we run into, my companion says Hello and the dude completely ignores him and then I say Hello and the dude makes direct eye contact with me, smiles, bows, then says hello back. What can I say, I just got that cadence I guess.

"Elder Spider Man"

I have to dedicate a whole new section to this just because of how goofy it is. But basically my companion, Elder Centeno, really wants to Spider-Man for some reason. I mean I cannot tell you the amount of times this dude has looked at a building looked at it for a second and then pretends to shoot a web at it and jump in the air like he's swinging on it. I’ll be like,

"Elder what are you doing?"

and he's like,

"I just wish I was Spider-Man. :("

He is so determined that its gotten to the point that he's pretended to shoot a couple webs at people we meet on the street by complete accident because of how many times he does it. One time we had a guy almost crash on a bike and Elder Centeno without even thinking yells at the guy in Korean,

"감사합니다! (Thank You!)" and then he shot a spider web at him.

Why he decided that was the best option to help the guy was beyond me. After typing this out I am starting to question if people ignore him because he's Philippino or if it’s because he secretly pretends to shoot a spider web at them and they get weirded out.

Another time I was told by an unknown source that supposedly he had a crush on a sister who returned home and her last name was Parker and he wanted to marry her so he could take her last name and name his kid "Peter Parker." Kind of brilliant not going to lie.

All in all I have the best companion and you can't tell me otherwise. He reminds me a lot of Gwen because they both tend to be in their own world half the time. Also, they are both part of the small group of people who laugh at my stupid jokes. I've felt a lot of joy this transfer but I have also been tested a lot on my street smarts. Because, Well... my companion tends to be lacking in that department. No offense to him or Gwen... ;).

Conclusion

I have been feeling pretty happy this transfer and I have gotten a lot more comfortable to Korea after living here for a decent amount of time now. I was able to get my hands on a song that I used to listen to in Oregon all the time called "Brother" by NEEDTOBREATH. I really think it resonates a lot with me this transfer because of how close I have gotten with my companion. This is because the song talks about even when you’re alone you will always have someone close to you to help you out of those tough times. Also its an absolute BANGER. I’ll attach it at the bottom of the email if you want to listen to it.

Lastly, I was excited to hear about the amount of close friends of mine who have gotten mission calls or for those who have come home early and are soon to go back . Along with those who are getting ready to serve a mission. The Lord truly is hastening his work.

Thanks for sending me emails!

Love Y'all!

-Elder Christensen

Song “Brother”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V3l8o2Rdac