for posterity...: March 2015

HISTORY

A Little History:

Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.

From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.

In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.

Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.

Our Mission Statement:

This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.

We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.

As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The language barrier

Today I got a call from a concerned friend of a concerned parent. This elders mom doesn't speak English and so he, Douglas called for her. She heard from the elder's brother that our elder had been beat up and had to go to the hospital. I was shocked. We had heard nothing about this, so I told him I would call and find out what had happened. I called the zone leaders. They knew nothing. I called the elder. He kind of laughed and told me he was fine. He had been to neither a doctor or the hospital. So I call back Douglas and try to reassure him that the elder is just fine. He quizzes me and tells me if the elder is just trying to protect his mom it is not working. She has a condition and is very upset. I told him I would check again and call him back. I call again to double check. The elder tells me he is fine. I ask him what he could have possibly said to his brother, the culprit in all this, to make him think he had been beat up. Then! He tells me he told his brother he FELT like he had been punched in the face. Ahhhh.

I called back Douglas and he finally understood, but still wanted to talk to the elder or have the elder email his mom. I told him I was sorry, but not allowed.

Five minutes later the elder calls me, worried about his mom. I told him I think i got the message across. He'll have to explain on Monday when he emails home.

The language barrier a big challenges. I've seen some of the difficulties in the last week trying to communicate with some Koreans..We have to keep persisting.

I love all of you. I hope I have communicated that clearly. We love Canada.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Scenes From my Morning Walk

Strangely there is no appreciable smog in this metropolis, but fog often comes our way, and it can deliver some splendiferous effects, as evidenced during a morning walk in the park across the street from our apartment:

More Queen Elizabeth Park ("British" is part of their name)

The wet climate here lends itself to botany - hence many gardens and flower parks - breathtakingly beautiful, even though winter barely ended. Can't wait for summer. This is a land of rain, humidity, rivers, lakes, oceans, waterfalls...

and fountains.