james is headed to russia. . .

last wednesday my little brother, james went into the

Missionary Training Center.

He has been called to serve a mission in Russia.

The city he will be serving in is Yekaterinburg.

If you read the name of the city and tried 38 times to pronounce it, you are not alone.
i'm sure you are dying to know exactly where Yekaterinburg is, so here is a map!
Don't be alarmed by the fact that when I typed in Ykaterinburg
into google the first thing that came up was a website for russian brides.
for reals.
anyways, he will be gone for 2 years and will have to endure the cold winters of russia.

It seems like just yesterday he was a hyperactive 5 year old, running around

the house chasing my sister and I with knives.

he was a very rambunctious child.

over the years he mellowed out which was nice.
here are a few of my favorite pics with my lil bro.

hawaii 2007

london 2007

memorial day 2009

4th of july 2009

sara & ty's wedding dinner august 2009

my wedding august 2010

mission farewell 2011
here are more pictures of james and the family from his farewell
and the day he entered the MTC.

james and ali

the whole fam

james' buddies
(all entering the MTC within the coming months)

james with the grandparents

final family pic for 2 years!
logan had to work so he isn't in it :(

james & my mom right before he went into the MTC!he apparently wanted nothing to do with this rain coat.
i'm pretty sure its an old coat of my moms.
she figured she could just give him this one instead of buying
him a new one.
"everybody is gonna be wearing them at the MTC!" my mom said.
apparently everybody was because i don't think he would
have put it on if he didn't see another person wearing one.
i think he looks pretty good in it, but whatevs.
he will have to buy a pretty hefty winter coat when he gets to russia.
apparently winters there can be like -20 degrees.
that will be a big change for him considering the fact
he just finished his first year of college at
BYU hawaii.
sucker.
if you want to follow james and hear about his letters home, etc.
my mom started a missionary blog for him.
if you know my mom, you know that she learned that
missionary blogs were the new "thing" that everyone was doing, so
of course she had to make him one.
i love my mom for that.
here is the link:
elderjameschristiansen.blogspot.com

i know that james will be a GREAT missionary!
i am so excited for him to live in russia and share the gospel
with all of the people there.
i am going to miss him a lot, but i know he is doing the right thing
by leaving his family, friends, school & life in general
for 2 years to serve the lord.
now it will be funny every time i drive by the MTC on my way to work.
don't be surprised if you hear about me getting in a car accident
whilst attempting to see if i can catch a glimpse of my little brother!
good luck james!
or should i say, udacha!